Site Latitude

The latitude field records how far north or south a Site sits, expressed in decimal degrees. Together with longitude it gives a precise point that mapping and GIS tools can plot directly, letting you place the site on a map independent of its parent Project's coordinates. It is stored with up to seven decimal places, enough precision to locate the site to within a few centimeters when your GPS data supports it. The field is optional, so a site recorded only by its smithsonianTrinomial and a descriptive areaExtent can leave it blank. When you have GPS coordinates for the site, filling in both latitude and longitude makes it easy to visualize alongside other sites in the project.