Providing the exact location of an avalanche or snowpack observation

REQUIREMENTS
Permission	User
Connectivity	Online only

Objective

This document describes how you can provide a precise location of an avalanche observation or a snowpack observation.

Background

In the InfoEx all assessments and observations need to have a geospatial reference. Subscribers need to maintain an up-to-date catalog of locations to allow the efficient and consistent georeferencing of their observations. Typical locations included in a location catalog are forecast areas, operating zones, roads, avalanche paths, ski runs or weather observation sites. See Location Catalog on more information on the role and administration of location catalogs.

The geospatial information associated with assessments is specified in the definition of the workflow in which the assessment is completed. Assessments typically apply to large scale areas, such as operation areas, operating zones or forecast areas and these location associations are fairly static and do not change on a daily bases. Observations, on the other side, are associated with smaller scale locations, such as avalanche paths, ski runs or weather sites, and the location of every observation is different. To support this more dynamic relationship, all observation entry forms have a mandatory dropdown text field that allows users to associate one or many locations from your location catalog to your observation. Depending on the observation type, the list of available locations is restricted to ensure meaningful associations.