stores a GIS coordinate point as a Latitude/Longitude/Altitude location in Degree/Minute/Second (DMS) form
GISLatLon stores a DMS coordinate location and returns the coordinate in decimal degrees. Altitude can be in any units, as long as those units are consistent throughout the GIS network.
All DMS Latitude inputs are constrained from -90.0 o (90.0 o S) to 90.0 o (90.0 o N). Values outside of these bounds will be clipped to fall within the -90.0 o to 90.0 o constraints. Cartographers who use N/S latitude notation must map their latitudes to the N = positive, S = negative convention. Conformance with this convention should be observed throughout all GIS related modules.
DMS Longitude inputs are constrained from 0 o (0 o E) to 360 o (0 o W). Values outside of these bounds will be clipped to fall within the 0 o to 360 o constraints. Cartographers who use E/W latitude notation must map their longitudes to the
E = positive, W = negative convention. The GISLatLon module will handle mapping from the +/- convention to the 360 o convention using the following restrictions:
0 o longitude runs through Greenwich, England.
Longitudes run positive in an eastward direction.
0 o E to 180 o E (+180 o ) will be mapped from 0 o to 180 o
180 o W (-180 o ) to 0 o W will be mapped from 180 o to 360 o .
Altitude can be represented as any double precision unit of measurement. It is your responsibility to ensure that all units are consistent throughout the network. Negative altitude values are allowed.