I have been wondering, is there a standard format for GPS coordinates for SAR? And, is there a reason to prefer one over the other?
I have been wondering, is there a standard format for GPS coordinates for SAR? And, is there a reason to prefer one over the other?
Our group is standardizing on degrees.decimal as that is used by our helicopter support. We just had a training session on converting all the formats back and forth. We want our SAR members to be fluent in all LAT/LONG formats.
I think that they should be familiar with both coordinate systems, but lat/long is not as well-suited as UTM to ground search. The quads all use UTM grids, accurate interpolation of lat/long is much harder, and UTM is much more easily related to actual distance on the ground.
Sorry I wasn't more clear above. Internally we use UTM for ground search, but talk DDD.DDD when talking to external agencies.
Sorry I wasn't more clear above. Internally we use UTM for ground search, but talk DDD.DDD when talking to external agencies.
In general, US ground SAR prefers UTM/MGRS/USNG, air and maritime SAR prefers lat/lon. As for lat/lon format...I have been wondering, is there a standard format for GPS coordinates for SAR? And, is there a reason to prefer one over the other?
Yes, you'll run into all of them, and depending on where you are, some formats will be used more than others.Thanks for the input. I knew there’d be a wealth of information here. I’m basically feeling like we should just make sure we’re familiar with all the formats.