Determination of Inland Squadron
Effective May 26, 2011
Basis for determination:
Determination of an Inland Squadrons was based on what one could reasonably accomplish on a Co-op Charting “day trip” to work on a NOAA chart. A normal “work” day of eight (8) hours was used in this determination. This eight (8) hour day was broken down into four (4) hours travel time and four (4) hours to launch the boat, collect the data and reload the boat. This does not factor in the time involved for meals etc. since that time should not be counted anyway within the report.
The four (4) hours travel was used as the round trip. Therefore one way travel time equals two (2) hours. Based upon data collected it has been found that the average speed was 50 MPH. This accounts for both Interstate and local roads. Applying the two (2) hours traveling at 50 MPH the average distance one could travel as a “day trip” would be 100 miles.
The conclusion and determination is that any Squadron that is over 100 miles from a NOAA chart is now considered an Inland Squadron.
Determination of Mileage from NOAA charts
The determination of whether the Squadron is Inland or Coastal is the mileage from a NOAA chart utilizing the Lat/Long of the Squadron and the Geographical Lat/Long to the center of the closest NOAA chart. The Squadron Lat/Long is provided in the National USPS database as it is used to determine Honor Roll credits.
Where there are multiple charts to pick from the largest scale chart shall be used to determine the distance. If the charts contain multiple segments running in different directions then the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western limits were utilized to obtain the Geographical center of the total chart. Where the Geographical center of the chart ends up off shore the “center” was adjusted along a route from the Squadron Lat/Long to the actual center until as land mass was encountered. The resulting point is then used to compute the mileage.
Where there are multiple charts that appear to be the closest, the initial distance calculation is determined by the Law of Cosines Method used by the USPS Navigation course to determine the mileage and corrected to statue miles. Where two or more charts are approximately within the same distance they were all checked to make the final determination. The final step in determining the mileage was to use Google Map to compute the actual driving mileage from the Squadron location to the center of the chart. This driving distance calculated from the Squadron location to the center of the closest chart completes the determination if a Squadron is Inland or Coastal.
The determination of an Inland Squadron will be made and verified by members of the National Committee or other USPS personal as determined by the Committee.
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