This option allows the user to establish new or change/delete existing locations.  Locations can be anything that have latitude and longitude and size attributes.  I.E. A city, island, point, lighthouse, etc..   Remember western longitudes are negative while eastern longitudes are positive.  The 2^nd image above is an example of 2 user defined oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Note the “OFFSHORE LOCATION” column is checked. This will allow the system to calculate wave heights for this location.

Name - This identifies the location's name

State - This identifies the location's state or country code (2 or 3 digits)

Latitude - This identifies the location's latitude in decimal degrees.  All latitudes north of the equator are positive and those south are negative.  Latitudes for the North Atlantic and Eastern Pacific are positive.  NOTE: DO NOT USE DEGREES AND MINUTES.  To convert degrees/minutes to degrees and tenths of a degree, take the number of minutes, divide by 60 and add it to the degree value.  I.E. 29 degrees 36 minutes is 29.6 degrees.  

Longitude - This identifies the location's longitude in decimal degrees.  All Western longitudes are negative while all Eastern longitudes are positive.  Longitude values for the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific locations are negative.   NOTE: DO NOT USE DEGREES AND MINUTES.  To convert degrees/minutes to degrees and tenths of a degree, take the number of minutes, divide by 60 and add it to the degree value.  I.E. -78 degrees 54 minutes is -78.9 degrees.  

Plot Size - This represents the circular size of this location.  This can range anywhere from 0 to 100 nautical miles.  A zero value will not draw any circle, thus being well suited for geographical landmarks like points, bays, etc..  Other values will draw circles or points depending on the size of the location and size of the map they are plotted on.

Plot Font – This option allows the user to specify the font type, size and color which will be used when plotting this locations name on a tracking map. It overrides the location group and default location fonts. It can be changed by clicking on it and can be cleared by selecting the SHIFT key and clicking on it.

Elevation – This indicates the location’s elevation above mean sea level in feet.  It is only used by the SLOSH report function and supercedes the elevation calculated by the DEM (digital elevation model) data included with the system.

Cross Wind Direction - This field can be used in 2 different ways.  If a coastal location, this can be used to identify the wind direction that typically causes the most flooding.  For example, in Savannah a direct East wind (090 degrees) is the direction that flooding occurs.  In Panama City, FL, the direction is more like SSW or 200 degrees.  This is used in the detail location reports when calculating onshore wind flow and also the location report flood index graph.  If this is an airport location, this field can be used to identify the cross wind direction.  i.e. a 360 runway would have the max cross wind from 270 or 090.  Either value can be used.  This will then generate the cross runway component of wind on detailed “hourly” reports.

Tide Station - This identifies the tide station associated with this location. To associate a location to a tide station, click on this data cell.  The user will then be presented with a tide station selection window.

Image – This field allows the user to identify a web or local image file to the system which is used when exporting report data to Google Earth. For more information see Webcam / Location Images.

Offshore Location - This identifies the location as a fixed offshore location, such as an oil platform, etc.. When checked the system will include wave height calculations in the summary and detailed impact report for this location

If the Legacy AWE is selected the following additional field is displayed

AWE Location - This indicates whether this location "qualifies" for Advanced Wind Estimation. If information has been added via the advanced data entry option, this option will be checked. This is a read only indicator.

The options available from here are:

To ADD a location, select the add location option.

For default Advanced Wind Estimation (AWE) - To enter Advanced information about this location, select the Advanced data entry option.

For legacy Advanced Wind Estimation - To enter Advanced information about this location, select the Advanced data entry option.

To Change a location's  information, make the required changes in the data table and select update.

To DEFINE ACTION POINTS, highlight that location in the list and select the View/Define Action Point option.

To DELETE a location group, highlight that location in the list and select the delete option.

** Note: you can quickly find a location by using the search fields. * as a wildcard is allowed

LOCATION Maintenance BATCH options:

When adding custom locations you should to perform 3 “batch” operations available from the System Setup function (via Location Maintenance). Those operations are required to calculate the locations roughness indices (for use with Advanced Wind Estimation), Tide Station (for coastal locations) and closest weather observation station.

Tide Operations: There are a number of operations that you can perform on your location database. For cities, counties and zip codes you can have the system assign the location’s closest coastal Tide Station (it must be within 10 miles). This allows the system to show the tide information on the impact reports. You can also un-assign, in effect, disassociating the locations from any tide station. You would normally use this option when adding custom locations.

Recalculation Roughness Indices: This option will reanalyze the land usage around all of your locations and recalculate the indices used in Advanced Wind Estimation. This is normally not necessary unless adding custom locations.

Weather Station Operations: For city locations you can have the system either update the location’s closest weather station, overwriting what is currently assigned or just have the system try to find a weather station for location that do not have one associated with it. The weather station must be within 20 mile of the location. You would normally use this option when adding your own custom locations. You would normally use this option when adding custom locations.