[R-sig-Geo] Reading and projecting lat/long point coordinates using R?

[Rick Reeves]

Hello: 

I've searched the literature, havent found an answer, so here goes? 

We have a set of polygon features defined as a series of unprojected
vertices represented by lat/long pairs, in an ASCII-format file.

We need to display (on a map-like plot) and then calculate the areas 
of the polygons, and would like to do this entirely within R if
possible.
Is there a map projection package for R? Or, has anyone solved this
or a related problem using R? I could do this with the MATLAB mapping
toolbox, but prefer to use R if possible....


Thanks, 

Rick Reeves

Scientific Programmer / Quantitative Analyst
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis
University of California, Santa Barbara
805 892 2534
reeves at nceas.ucsb.edu