See Bill Chadwick’s example here:
http://www.bdcc.co.uk/Gmaps/BdccGmapBits.htm
above example ported to v3 (code at bottom of this answer)
on his page under:
DISTANCE POINT TO POLYLINE OR POLYGON
from that post:
There is a similar, better demo here http://wtp2.appspot.com/cSnapToRouteDemo.html
It is finding the closest point on the line to the mouse. Also note that it is a Google Maps API v2 example (but the principle with v3 would be the same).
// Code to find the distance in metres between a lat/lng point and a polyline of lat/lng points
// All in WGS84. Free for any use.
//
// Bill Chadwick 2007
// updated to Google Maps API v3, Lawrence Ross 2014
// Construct a bdccGeo from its latitude and longitude in degrees
function bdccGeo(lat, lon)
{
var theta = (lon * Math.PI / 180.0);
var rlat = bdccGeoGeocentricLatitude(lat * Math.PI / 180.0);
var c = Math.cos(rlat);
this.x = c * Math.cos(theta);
this.y = c * Math.sin(theta);
this.z = Math.sin(rlat);
}
bdccGeo.prototype = new bdccGeo();
// internal helper functions =========================================
// Convert from geographic to geocentric latitude (radians).
function bdccGeoGeocentricLatitude(geographicLatitude)
{
var flattening = 1.0 / 298.257223563;//WGS84
var f = (1.0 - flattening) * (1.0 - flattening);
return Math.atan((Math.tan(geographicLatitude) * f));
}
// Returns the two antipodal points of intersection of two great
// circles defined by the arcs geo1 to geo2 and
// geo3 to geo4. Returns a point as a Geo, use .antipode to get the other point
function bdccGeoGetIntersection( geo1, geo2, geo3, geo4)
{
var geoCross1 = geo1.crossNormalize(geo2);
var geoCross2 = geo3.crossNormalize(geo4);
return geoCross1.crossNormalize(geoCross2);
}
//from Radians to Meters
function bdccGeoRadiansToMeters(rad)
{
return rad * 6378137.0; // WGS84 Equatorial Radius in Meters
}
//from Meters to Radians
function bdccGeoMetersToRadians(m)
{
return m / 6378137.0; // WGS84 Equatorial Radius in Meters
}
// properties =================================================
bdccGeo.prototype.getLatitudeRadians = function()
{
return (bdccGeoGeographicLatitude(Math.atan2(this.z,
Math.sqrt((this.x * this.x) + (this.y * this.y)))));
}
bdccGeo.prototype.getLongitudeRadians = function()
{
return (Math.atan2(this.y, this.x));
}
bdccGeo.prototype.getLatitude = function()
{
return this.getLatitudeRadians() * 180.0 / Math.PI;
}
bdccGeo.prototype.getLongitude = function()
{
return this.getLongitudeRadians() * 180.0 / Math.PI ;
}
// Methods =================================================
//Maths
bdccGeo.prototype.dot = function( b)
{
return ((this.x * b.x) + (this.y * b.y) + (this.z * b.z));
}
//More Maths
bdccGeo.prototype.crossLength = function( b)
{
var x = (this.y * b.z) - (this.z * b.y);
var y = (this.z * b.x) - (this.x * b.z);
var z = (this.x * b.y) - (this.y * b.x);
return Math.sqrt((x * x) + (y * y) + (z * z));
}
//More Maths
bdccGeo.prototype.scale = function( s)
{
var r = new bdccGeo(0,0);
r.x = this.x * s;
r.y = this.y * s;
r.z = this.z * s;
return r;
}
// More Maths
bdccGeo.prototype.crossNormalize = function( b)
{
var x = (this.y * b.z) - (this.z * b.y);
var y = (this.z * b.x) - (this.x * b.z);
var z = (this.x * b.y) - (this.y * b.x);
var L = Math.sqrt((x * x) + (y * y) + (z * z));
var r = new bdccGeo(0,0);
r.x = x / L;
r.y = y / L;
r.z = z / L;
return r;
}
// point on opposite side of the world to this point
bdccGeo.prototype.antipode = function()
{
return this.scale(-1.0);
}
//distance in radians from this point to point v2
bdccGeo.prototype.distance = function( v2)
{
return Math.atan2(v2.crossLength(this), v2.dot(this));
}
//returns in meters the minimum of the perpendicular distance of this point from the line segment geo1-geo2
//and the distance from this point to the line segment ends in geo1 and geo2
bdccGeo.prototype.distanceToLineSegMtrs = function(geo1, geo2)
{
//point on unit sphere above origin and normal to plane of geo1,geo2
//could be either side of the plane
var p2 = geo1.crossNormalize(geo2);
// intersection of GC normal to geo1/geo2 passing through p with GC geo1/geo2
var ip = bdccGeoGetIntersection(geo1,geo2,this,p2);
//need to check that ip or its antipode is between p1 and p2
var d = geo1.distance(geo2);
var d1p = geo1.distance(ip);
var d2p = geo2.distance(ip);
//window.status = d + ", " + d1p + ", " + d2p;
if ((d >= d1p) && (d >= d2p))
return bdccGeoRadiansToMeters(this.distance(ip));
else
{
ip = ip.antipode();
d1p = geo1.distance(ip);
d2p = geo2.distance(ip);
}
if ((d >= d1p) && (d >= d2p))
return bdccGeoRadiansToMeters(this.distance(ip));
else
return bdccGeoRadiansToMeters(Math.min(geo1.distance(this),geo2.distance(this)));
}
// distance in meters from GLatLng point to GPolyline or GPolygon poly
function bdccGeoDistanceToPolyMtrs(poly, point)
{
var d = 999999999;
var i;
var p = new bdccGeo(point.lat(),point.lng());
for(i=0; i<(poly.getPath().getLength()-1); i++)
{
var p1 = poly.getPath().getAt(i);
var l1 = new bdccGeo(p1.lat(),p1.lng());
var p2 = poly.getPath().getAt(i+1);
var l2 = new bdccGeo(p2.lat(),p2.lng());
var dp = p.distanceToLineSegMtrs(l1,l2);
if(dp < d)
d = dp;
}
return d;
}
// get a new GLatLng distanceMeters away on the compass bearing azimuthDegrees
// from the GLatLng point - accurate to better than 200m in 140km (20m in 14km) in the UK
function bdccGeoPointAtRangeAndBearing (point, distanceMeters, azimuthDegrees)
{
var latr = point.lat() * Math.PI / 180.0;
var lonr = point.lng() * Math.PI / 180.0;
var coslat = Math.cos(latr);
var sinlat = Math.sin(latr);
var az = azimuthDegrees* Math.PI / 180.0;
var cosaz = Math.cos(az);
var sinaz = Math.sin(az);
var dr = distanceMeters / 6378137.0; // distance in radians using WGS84 Equatorial Radius
var sind = Math.sin(dr);
var cosd = Math.cos(dr);
return new google.maps.LatLng(Math.asin((sinlat * cosd) + (coslat * sind * cosaz)) * 180.0 / Math.PI,
(Math.atan2((sind * sinaz), (coslat * cosd) - (sinlat * sind * cosaz)) + lonr) * 180.0 / Math.PI);
}