This application searches for US Historical Climatology Network and Climate Reference Network sites within a specified longitude/latitude box. Depending on where you live and the ranges you select, there may be many USHCN sites or only a few. There may be no CRN sites.

In addition to text output about the sites, you can also create a .kml file for displaying sites on Google Earth's global map. Depending on the density of USHCN sites within the longitude/latitude box you have specified, the map may look crowded! USHCN sites are shown with a blank green "paddle" icon. CRN sites are shown with a blank red "paddle" icon. You can also put a standard yellow "map pin" at the coordinates of a specified "home site." If you click on the home site longitude and latitude boxes, the application will fill these values with the average longitude and latitude values based on the ranges you have selected. You can overwrite these home site coordinates with coordinates of your own choosing, like your actual location within the longitude/latitude box. The advantage of specifying a home site is that you can use Google Earth tools to find out how far you are from the other sites.

The application doesn't create the .kml files directly. Instead, the application generates text output. To create the font .kml file:

  1. Copy the entire screen outpout into your clipboard (Ctrl-A and Ctrl-C on Windows computers).
  2. Paste the contents of the clipboard into a text editor such as Notepad on Windows computers.
  3. Save the file with an appropriate name, with a .kml extension (not a .txt extension).
That's all there is to it! If you double-click on this file, it should automatically open Google Earth and display the sites. The screen shots below show an example.