Please fill out the following form to provide detailed location and contact information for the exclusive use of the NWS through your local ARES and/or spotter network. Your location can be determined by use of a GPS, mapping software, or you can go to http://www.geocode.com/modules.php?name=TestDrive_Eagle to get your coordinates.
Note there are three boxes on this form for latitude and longitude, used for entering degrees, minutes and seconds (°,', "). Depending on the source of your coordinates, they may be displayed in a number of different formats. The most common is DD:MM:SS.S where DD is the degree field, MM is the minute field and SS.S is the second field (field for seconds, not 2nd field). Sometimes you will see something of the form, DD:MM.MMM. This form is recognized by the fact there are really only two fields, degrees and minutes where minutes are shown as a number with perhaps 3 digits to the right of the decimal. In the latter case please enter the minutes field in the middle box and leave the third box empty. Examples of each are:
N33:45:22.3 or W084:12:32.1 and
N33:45.372 or W084:12.535
Sometimes the direction is listed after the number, sometimes before. Sometimes you'll see spaces between the fields rather than colons, but the important thing is to check to see if there are two or three fields.
If you prefer, you may enter the coordinates as a decimal degrees field. (33.54321) The box isn't big enough to display the entire number, but it will accept it. In any case, PLEASE do not enter anything except numbers and decimal points. Don't put N, W or : in the entered data. Positive numbers only. I'll do a rough test of the data to see if it is reasonable so if you get an error message, please go back and correct the data.
Another important item to check is the datum. The earth is not a perfect sphere so mathematical models have been devised to attempt to describe the shape of our planet. An early model was defined in 1927 and is called NAD27. The latest and greatest is WGS84. One other common datum is NAD83. For this exercise we'll accept coordinates in either WGS84 or NAD83 format. Since most of the GPSes show WGS84 by default from the factory, this shouldn't pose a problem. However if you can't get your coordinates in any form other than NAD27, send them along and we'll convert them. Please include a comment stating that you're using a non-conforming datum.
Also please let us know when you received your spotter training and which course you attended last. Approximate dates are OK.
This information will not be made public or shared with anyone else. If you find that you've made a mistake after saving the data, please enter your call sign and the updated data only. The phone number is very important. The NWS has asked us for that so in an emergency they can contact you directly for information. Be sure to include the area code.
Questions or comments larger than 256 characters or comments on the web page? Email me k4gvo@qsl.net