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Locus Innovations in 2022

2022 has given us a wealth of new features and growth! Both of our platforms have undergone improvements to enhance our client’s user experience. Let’s look at all the new features for 2022.

Environmental Information Management (EIM)

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1. New Site Metrics dashboard allows immediate visibility into your data with clickable mapping. This is especially powerful for customers with multiple sites where they want to keep track of site activity and usage. [/sc_icon_with_text]

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2. Finding data can sometimes be overwhelming especially when you have hundreds, if not thousands, of locations and numerous analytical parameters to review. Locus added advanced database search tools to support multiple search terms and ‘exact match’ searches, making it easy to find exactly what you want with a couple of key words and a click. Never has finding the right results from large complex datasets been so easy. [/sc_icon_with_text]

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3. Locus has enhanced its API functionality to enable easier integration with external BI tools, including Tableau, PowerBI, and other apps. Now, customers that rely on external business analytical tools will have quick and easy access to data to combine with other internal data sources. [/sc_icon_with_text]

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4. Locus document management has been taken to the next level by allowing customers to link documents from any external library directly into their sites, monitoring locations, samples, and more.  This means with a simple click, users can go to lab reports, regulatory reports, and any other current or historical document associated with the site.  If you are using SharePoint, for example, to manage documents – they can be accessed directly from Locus software.  Document access and security will be preserved by existing document library access controls. [/sc_icon_with_text]

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5. 2022 was the year of “help”.  In addition to the advanced search, Locus added a new Help Browser to provide access to comprehensive documentation for every feature of the software.  It is similar to the familiar “site map”, only the links take you to help content.  With this new feature, users can view help in a single location vs having to access the information on each individual screen.  For new users, or infrequent users, this will be their new favorite feature. [/sc_icon_with_text]

EHS & ESG Solutions

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1. Locus’ Survey/Questionnaire tool enables you to securely & easily obtain data globally without the burdens of training or maintaining user lists. The survey system effortlessly supports data entry from external organizations (such as suppliers) or even occasional users internal to your organization, with a simple link click. [/sc_icon_with_text]

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2. Locus released a new pivot table tool that enables you to perform full data analysis on any query in the system.  Data may be grouped and organized by any value. Output options include bar charts, heatmaps, tables, area charts, scatter charts, and tree maps. In support of the output options, Locus has improved the ability for users to create dashboards more easily. [/sc_icon_with_text]

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3. Complex inspection and audit forms require branching, sophisticated, scoring, and automated responses.  Locus added new question types to its inspection/ audit module, including conditional questions based on responses to one or more previous questions. Locus augmented the scoring calculation mechanism and automated creation and tracking of corrective action. [/sc_icon_with_text]

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4. In today’s world, users need access to environmental data on the go.  Locus augmented its mobile offerings to include configurable layouts for mobile users, with compact forms specially designed for smartphone and tablet access.   [/sc_icon_with_text]

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5. Today’s managers want immediate access to the data they need. Locus’ new Landing Page feature makes it simple to configure the dashboards, bookmarks, and record lists. This enables the user to review just the areas they need to see and navigate efficiently to complete the work.  [/sc_icon_with_text]

Contact us to see a demo of Locus software and get a quote

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    Getting More from your Environmental Data using Dashboards with Integrated Mapping

    Today is GIS Day, a day started in 1999 to showcase the many uses of geographical information systems (GIS). Earlier Locus blog posts have explained how GIS and maps support visualization of objects in space and over time. This post covers a specific visualization method called data dashboards.  

    A data dashboard is a combination of charts, maps, text, and images that enables analysis of data and thereby promotes discovery of previously unknown relationships in the data. Companies and organizations use dashboards to develop insight into the overall status of a company or of a company division, process, or product line. Dashboards are also a common function in ‘business intelligence’ applications such as Microsoft Power BI and Tableau. A printed dashboard is static, but an online dashboard can be dynamic; in a dynamic dashboard, interacting with one item on the dashboard causes the other items to update. Taken together, the visualizations on a dynamic dashboard can help you find the story in your data. 

    One reason dashboards are so helpful is that they allow humans to partially ‘offload’ their thinking. Cognitive research has shown that human ‘working memory’ handles at most four items at a time. A good visualization, however, reduces the number of items to process in memory. 

    Consider a large table of carbon dioxide emissions by country for multiple years; it can be difficult to keep all the numbers in mind if you are trying to find trends.

    If you plot the data in a graph, however, each series of data in the chart becomes just one line on the graph. It is much easier to compare lines on the chart than to compare columns of numbers.

    Now consider making a map with countries color coded by emissions. Again, for each country, the map reduces multiple numbers to a single color for that country on the map. You can compare country colors more easily than columns of numbers.

    A dashboard that combines multiple visualizations further enhances data analysis. Imagine a dynamic dashboard showing you both the emissions chart and map described above. If you select a country on the map, the chart can highlight the line for that country, so you compare its emissions to other countries over time. Similarly, if you select a line on the chart for a specific country, the map can highlight the selected country to show how its emissions compare to nearby countries. This interactivity lets you drill into your data more effectively than using either the chart or the map by itself.

    Here are three examples of effective dashboards that are available online:

    Locus includes data dashboards in our applications. One example is the Site Metrics dashboard in EIM, Locus’s cloud-based, software-as-a-service application for environmental data management. The Site Metrics dashboard lets you perform roll-up queries across your portfolio of sites. A map on the dashboard shows all states with active sites. If you select one or more states, the dashboard updates the charts and tables on the right to show total sites, user logins, and record counts. Other dashboards can support showing sample locations of certain chemicals or counts of regulatory limit exceedances.

    A further example comes from the Locus Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) application. ESG metrics are becoming increasingly important measures for an organization’s performance. Data dashboards can help companies quickly visualize trends in their ESG metrics using intuitive mapping tools.

    This dashboard illustrates both spatial and time trends and provides the raw data necessary for auditability and transparent decision making. Having these features on a single combined view provides users with instant access to the key inputs for ESG prioritization, planning, and project implementation.

    As these examples from Locus show, data dashboards with integrated mapping are important tools for maximizing the value of your collected environmental and ESG data. For any dataset with a geographic component, it’s important to incorporate mapping elements in the outputs, to highlight trends and patterns that may not otherwise be visible in a chart or table. Modern software can combine these output formats in a way that tells the story shown by your data.

    Interested in Locus’ GIS solutions?

    Locus GIS+ features all of the functionality you love in EIM’s classic Google Maps GIS for environmental management—integrated with the powerful cartography, interoperability, & smart-mapping features of Esri’s ArcGIS platform!

    [sc_button link=”https://ltweb-stage.locustec.com/applications/gis-mapping/” text=”Learn more about Locus’ GIS solutions” link_target=”_self” color=”#ffffff” background_color=”#52a6ea” centered=”1″]

    [sc_image width=”150″ height=”150″ src=”16303″ style=”11″ position=”centered” disable_lightbox=”1″ alt=”Dr. Todd Pierce”]

    About the Author—Dr. Todd Pierce, Locus Technologies

    Dr. Pierce manages a team of programmers tasked with development and implementation of Locus’ EIM application, which lets users manage their environmental data in the cloud using Software-as-a-Service technology. Dr. Pierce is also directly responsible for research and development of Locus’ GIS (geographic information systems) and visualization tools for mapping analytical and subsurface data. Dr. Pierce earned his GIS Professional (GISP) certification in 2010.

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    The Past, Present, and Future of EHS & ESG

    To celebrate a milestone 25 years of success in EHS and ESG software development, we sat down with Locus President, Wes Hawthorne for a brief discussion. In this post, we ask him a series of questions highlighting the past, present and future of EHS and ESG.

    1. What are the greatest challenges that environmental professionals are facing?

    One of the persistent challenges we’ve seen for the past 25 years is that the responsibilities of environmental professionals are continually expanding. Previously, almost all environmental work was localized, with facility-level permits for air, water, waste, etc. That has expanded over the years to include new regulations and reporting requirements for sustainability, social metrics, and other new compliance areas, while the old facility-level programs still continue. This has led to more pressure on environmental managers to keep up with these programs, and increased reliance on tools to manage that information. That’s where Locus has always focused our effort, to make that ever-expanding workload more manageable with modern solutions.

    2. What are the most interesting trends in EHS and ESG?

    The current flood of interest in ESG is certainly notable as far as bringing corporate attention to the environmental field, as well as having requirements originate from the SEC here in the US. We have become accustomed to managing oversight from multiple regulatory bodies at the local, state, and federal level, but SEC would be a newcomer in our line of work. Their involvement will be accompanied by a range of new requirements that are common for the financial world, but would be unfamiliar to environmental staff.

    Across other EHS fields, we are seeing increased demand for transparency in EHS functions. Overall, this is a positive move, as it brings more attention to EHS issues and develops a better EHS culture within organizations. But this also drives the need for better tools to make EHS information readily available across all levels of the organization.

    3. What are the most disruptive technologies available today?

    As far as technologies, the ones most likely to have significant impact in the environmental field are ones that don’t require a significant capital investment. Although there are definitely some practical advantages to installing smart monitoring devices and other new technologies, procuring the funding for those purchases is often difficult for environmental professionals. Fortunately, there are still many technologies that have already been implemented successfully in other fields, but only need to be adapted for environmental purposes. Even simple changes like using web-based software in place of spreadsheets can have a huge impact on efficiency. And we haven’t yet seen the full impact of the proliferation of mobile devices on EHS functions. We are still working on new ways to take advantage of mobile devices for data collection, analysis, and communication purposes.

    4. What do you think are the biggest innovations of the last 25 years in our field?

    We’ve seen a number of innovation milestones in the past 25 years, and while we didn’t invent SaaS, we’ve been largely responsible for adapting it and perfecting it for environmental purposes. One of the major innovations we’ve integrated into our products include online GIS tools where users can easily visualize their environmental data on maps without expensive desktop software. Another one was our fully configurable software platform with built-in form, workflow, and report builders tailored for environmental purposes, which allows anyone to build and deploy environmental software applications that exactly match their needs. There have been many other innovations we’ve incorporated into our software, but these two stand out as the most impactful.

    5. Where do you see Environmental and ESG reporting in the future?

    More and more, we are seeing all types of reporting being converted into pure data exchanges. Reports that used to include regulatory forms and text interpretations are being replaced with text or XML file submittals. This transition is being driven largely by availability of technology for EHS professionals to generate and read these files, but it is also promoted by regulatory agencies and other stakeholders receiving these reports. Stakeholders have less time to read volumes of interpretive text, and are becoming more skeptical of potential bias in how facts are presented in text. These are driving the need for more pure data exchanges, with increasing emphasis on quantifiable metrics. These types of reports are also more readily compared against regulatory or industry standards. For reporters, lengthy corporate reports with volumes of text and graphics are becoming less common, and the success of an organization’s programs will be increasingly reliant on robust data sets, since ultimately only the data will be reported.

    6. What has been the key reason for Locus’ success for the past 25 years?

    There are actually a few that immediately come to mind. One reason is the nature of our continually evolving products. By providing our solutions as SaaS, our software adapts with new environmental requirements, and with new technologies. If our software was still the same as it was 25 years ago, it simply wouldn’t be sufficient for today’s requirements. Since our software is updated multiple times each year, it is difficult to notice the incremental changes, but they can be readily seen if you compare today’s software with the original in 1997. And we’re committed to continuing the development of our products as environmental needs change.

    The other primary reason for our success is our excellent staff and the environmental expertise we bring to our customers. We simply could not provide the same level of support without our team of environmental engineers, scientists, geologists, chemists, and an array of others. Having that real-world understanding of environmental topics is how we’ve maintained customer relationships for multiple decades. And our software only has value because it is maintained and operated by staff who appreciate the complexity and importance of environmental work.

    Locus President Wes Hawthorne meets with Locus Platform dev team 2016Mr. Hawthorne has been with Locus since 1999, working on development and implementation of services and solutions in the areas of environmental compliance, remediation, and sustainability. As President, he currently leads the overall product development and operations of the company. As a seasoned environmental and engineering executive, Hawthorne incorporates innovative analytical tools and methods to develop strategies for customers for portfolio analysis, project implementation, and management. His comprehensive knowledge of technical and environmental compliance best practices and laws enable him to create customized, cost-effective and customer-focused solutions for the specialized needs of each customer.

    Mr. Hawthorne holds an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University and B.S. degrees in Geology and Geological Engineering from Purdue University. He is registered both as a Professional Engineer and Professional Geologist, and is also accredited as Lead Verifier for the Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Low Carbon Fuel Standard programs by the California Air Resources Board.

    Want to discuss EHS and ESG solutions with our product specialists? Contact us today!

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      5 Major Signs That You Need to Replace Your Water Data Management Software

      In providing water quality data management software to organizations serving millions of customers a day, our experts have found some common red flags in alternative solutions. Many alternatives to Locus are more prohibitive than helpful, leading to more issues than they should. Your organization deserves to reduce the stress of data entry, regulatory and voluntary reporting, and more. Here are the top 5 signs that your organization is using outdated water quality software:

      1. You’re transcribing data more than once or still using paper forms.

      In order to ensure the highest level of data quality, you should not be risking human error at multiple levels. Enter your data once, and have it audit-ready, set to go on regulatory and voluntary reports, which are created directly from Locus Software.

      2. Product support is not helmed by specialists who support you adequately after implementation.

      Support doesn’t end after implementation. What we often hear from our customers when they switch from other providers is that they are delighted with the level of support that Locus brings with our software. Locus is proud to have the expertise and experience to back our software, and if there is anything you need, you can be sure that Locus support can get it done smoothly.

      3. Your software has regular or unexpected downtimes.

      You need reliability. Your software should be available to you on-demand. Locus is proud to be the only environmental software developer to publicly share our uptime, which is over 99.9%. If you are experiencing downtimes at inconvenient times or for long periods, you should switch.

      4. It’s not mobile-enabled.

      Field collection is key for most organizations managing water quality data. You should be able to enter that data into your system once, and from anywhere, reducing errors and extra time doing the same work twice (or more!). Also, being able to access historical data at your fingertips can help you solve problems on the fly.

      5. It doesn’t provide actionable insights.

      Sure, you may have all of your data collected, but what are you doing with it? If your software is not giving you meaningful findings from analyzing your data, then you are always going to be playing catch-up. Having the tools to help your organization look forward is essential in selecting water data management software.

      Want to learn more about our Water Data Management Solution? Reach out to our product specialists today!

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        The Convergence of Augmented Reality and GIS

        Today is GIS Day, a day started in 1999 to showcase the many uses of geographical information systems (GIS). Earlier blog posts by Locus Technologies for GIS day have shown how GIS supports cutting-edge visualization of objects in space and over time. This year’s post explains how GIS supports augmented reality.

        Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that enhances how we experience the real world by overlaying your surroundings with computer-generated objects. It differs from virtual reality (VR) because in VR, everything you see is computer generated, but in AR, the majority of what you see is real – your experience of reality is enhanced (augmented) but not totally replaced.

        You are probably familiar with one AR application already if you watch American football. The ‘virtual’ first down line that appears on field before each play is projected there by computer and is not really painted on the field. If you follow soccer (or football to the rest of the world), AR is used by a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to objectively determine tight offsides decisions. Digital lines are drawn across the field to show whether or not attackers are illegally past the last defender or not. Another AR example is the popular game Pokémon Go that shows cute virtual creatures in your living room or your front yard.

        To experience AR, you need something to project the non-real objects onto your view of the world. Many AR applications use mobile phones or other devices. An AR application uses the camera view to show you the world around you and then overlays virtual objects onto the view. Other devices such as head mounted displays, ‘smart glasses’, or even ‘bionic contact lenses’ can use AR, but have not been as popular as phones or other mobile devices. In contrast to AR, VR cannot be fully supported with just a mobile device and usually requires headsets to immerse you in a virtual world. Because of this need, AR is much less intrusive than VR is.

        Countless other examples of AR already exist in many fields. A few selected applications include:

        • Online shoppers at some e-commerce sites can use smart devices to project furniture into their home to see how the pieces look before making a purchase.
        • Some clothing stores can project clothing onto shoppers’ bodies to check appearance without having to change clothes. These applications require the user to be in a special dressing booth with full body scanning capabilities.
        • Urban planners use AR to display how planned buildings, cell towers, wind turbines, and other structures would look in the existing space. Planners can walk the streets and view how proposed projects would alter the existing cityscape.
        • AR is used in manufacturing to display operation and safety instructions in a worker’s field of vision using head mounted displays, which circumvents the need to refer to bulky paper manuals.
        • Utility managers can see underground pipelines, water lines, sewer pipes, electrical lines, and other infrastructure projected below their feet.

        So how does GIS relate to AR? There are three main uses of GIS in AR:

        • Location: Any AR application must know where the user is and where to place virtual objects. In most cases, full GIS capabilities are not needed; instead, the application accesses a GPS (global positioning system) to find locations. Consider the Pokémon Go application mentioned before. The game knows where the various Pokémon need to appear. When a user plays the game, it uses GPS to find the user, and then shows any Pokémon that are near the user based on their locations.
        • Layers: An AR application may need to show features that are not visible to the user, such as underground electrical lines, earthquake fault lines, property lines, or planned buildings. All these features can be stored as GIS map layers in the cloud and then displayed in the AR application as virtual overlays projected on the real world. Furthermore, a user could select a displayed item and view related attribute information in the GIS layer. For example, a user could view the condition, age, and repair status of a selected water pipeline.
        • Navigation: An AR application may also need to help a user get from point A to point B, for example in a crowded airport or in a large warehouse. Such navigation could be facilitated by showing virtual route markers and arrows on the real world.

        Locus has been exploring environmental uses of AR and GIS by adding AR to Locus Mobile, which is the Locus app for collecting field data, completing EHS audits, tracking waste containers, and completing other tasks requiring users to gather data out of the office. Locus Mobile now features an AR mode to assist users when taking field samples. When the user activates AR mode, the app uses the camera to show the user’s immediate area. The app then puts multiple virtual markers on the display corresponding to sampling points located in that direction. As the user moves or rotates the phone to change the viewing area, the markers change to reflect the locations in the user’s line of sight. Clicking a marker provides more information including the location name and the distance from the user.

        Locus Mobile uses all three ways to combine GIS with AR:

        • By using GPS to find the user’s location and the locations of nearby sampling points.
        • By using GIS to display the layer of sampling points.
        • By using GIS to assist with navigation to sampling points by showing distance and direction.

        Here is a sample image from Locus Mobile showing three nearby sampling locations along with information about past events or measurements at the locations. The three blue banners are the augmented reality displayed on top of the view of the nearby surroundings.

        Locus Augmented Reality

        By using GIS and AR to assist users in finding sampling points, Locus Mobile makes field personnel more productive. Samplers can find field locations quickly and can easily pull up related information. Locus continues to explore using AR to expand the functionality of its environmental applications.

        Interested in Locus’ GIS solutions?

        Locus GIS+ features all of the functionality you love in EIM’s classic Google Maps GIS for environmental management—integrated with the powerful cartography, interoperability, & smart-mapping features of Esri’s ArcGIS platform!

        [sc_button link=”https://ltweb-stage.locustec.com/applications/gis-mapping/” text=”Learn more about Locus’ GIS solutions” link_target=”_self” color=”#ffffff” background_color=”#52a6ea” centered=”1″]

        [sc_image width=”150″ height=”150″ src=”16303″ style=”11″ position=”centered” disable_lightbox=”1″ alt=”Dr. Todd Pierce”]

        About the Author—Dr. Todd Pierce, Locus Technologies

        Dr. Pierce manages a team of programmers tasked with development and implementation of Locus’ EIM application, which lets users manage their environmental data in the cloud using Software-as-a-Service technology. Dr. Pierce is also directly responsible for research and development of Locus’ GIS (geographic information systems) and visualization tools for mapping analytical and subsurface data. Dr. Pierce earned his GIS Professional (GISP) certification in 2010.

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        7 Useful Visualization Tools for Environmental Management

        The ability to visualize your field and analytical data across maps, logs, and charts is a crucial part of managing environmental information. Locus makes it easy to visually display and export data for sharing in reports and presentations. We’ve compiled 7 of the most useful visualization tools in our environmental information management software.

        Data Callouts

        View your data in easy-to-read text boxes right on your maps. These are location-specific crosstab reports listing analytical, groundwater, or field readings. A user first creates a data callout template using a drag-and-drop interface in the EIM enhanced formatted reports module. The template can include rules to control data formatting (for example, action limit exceedances can be shown in red text). When the user runs the template for a specific set of locations, EIM displays the callouts in the GIS+ as a set of draggable boxes. The user can finalize the callouts in the GIS+ print view and then send the resulting map to a printer or export the map to a PDF file.

        Locus GIS Data Callouts

        Graduated Symbols

        Locus GIS features high-quality and industry specific graduated symbols so that you can compare relative quantitative data on customizable maps. Choose graduated symbol intervals, sizes, and colors from a large selection of color ramps and create multiple layers for data analysis. It also features a location clustering option, ideal for large sites, a historical challenge for mapping.

        Intellus GIS+ maps

        Charting

        Multiple charts can be created in EIM at one time. Charts can then be formatted using the Format tab. Formatting can include the ability to add milestone lines and shaded date ranges for specific dates on the x axis. The user can also change font, legend location, line colors, marker sizes and types, date formats, legend text, axis labels, grid line intervals or background colors. In addition, users can choose to display lab qualifiers next to non-detects, show non-detects as white filled points, show results next to data points, add footnotes, change the y-axis to log scale, and more. All of the format options can be saved as a chart style set and applied to sets of charts when they are created.

        Screenshots of EIM chemistry plots menu with two sample plots

        Time Sliders

        Locus has adopted animation in its GIS+ solution, which lets a user use a “time slider” to animate chemical concentrations over time. When a user displays EIM data on the GIS+ map, the user can decide to create “time slices” based on a selected date field. The slices can be by century, decade, year, month, week or day, and show the maximum concentration over that time period. Once the slices are created, the user can step through them manually or run them in movie mode.

        GIS+ time slider in action

        Augmented Reality

        Locate and identify inspection and/or monitoring locations on your mobile device. View real-time and historical environmental data to quickly find areas of interest for your chemical and subsurface data. Use your camera to get precise geotagged information for spills, safety incidents, historical chemical sources, subsurface utilities, or any other type of EHS data.

        Locus Augmented Reality

        Boring Logs

        Create and display clickable boring logs of your sample data—using custom style formats and cross-sections. Show depth ranges, lithology patterns, aquifer information, and detailed descriptions for your samples.

        Locus GIS+ boring logs on groundwater contour lines

        Contours

        Create and visualize custom contours using multiple algorithms. Because visualizations let you chunk items together, you can look at the ‘big picture” and not get lost in tables of data results. Your working memory stays within its capacity, your analysis of the information becomes more efficient, and you can gain new insights into your data.

        Contour map for groundwater in Locus GIS+

         

        Contact us to see more

        Send us your contact information and a Locus representative will be in touch to discuss your organization’s environmental data management needs and provide an estimate, or set up a free demo of our enterprise environmental software solutions.

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          Water Quality in the Cloud with Neno Duplan

          Locus Technologies founder and CEO Neno Duplan provides a wealth of experience on water quality in the cloud. Neno began cloud-based data work before any of us knew what the cloud even was. He does a great job explaining the steps needed to undertake and the significant benefits of a cloud-based digital transformation, and much more!

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          5 Powerful Features of Locus Environmental Software

          Maybe you are a user of Locus’ Environmental Software (EIM) and are looking to get more out of our product. Or perhaps you are using another company’s software platform and looking to make a switch to Locus’ award-winning solution. Either way, there are some features that you may not know exist, as Locus software is always evolving by adding more functionality for a range of customer needs. Here are five features of our environmental software that you may not know about:

          1. APIs for Queries

          Locus expanded the EIM application programming interface (API) to support running any EIM Expert Query. Using a drag and drop interface, an EIM user can create an Expert Query to construct a custom SQL query that returns data from any EIM data table. The user can then call the Expert Query through the API from a web browser or any application that can consume a REST API. The API returns the results in JSON format for download or use in another program. EIM power users will find the expanded API extremely useful for generating custom data reports and for bringing EIM data into other applications.

          Locus EIM API

          2. Scheduled Queries for Expert Query Tool

          The Expert Query Builder lets users schedule their custom queries to run at given times with output provided in an FTP folder or email attachment. Users can view generated files through the scheduler in a log grid, and configure notifications when queries are complete. Users can scheduled queries to run on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis, or to run after an electronic data deliverable (EDD) of a specified format is loaded to EIM. Best of all, these queries can be instantly ran and configured from the dashboard.

          Scheduled Queries in Locus EIM

          Scheduled Queries in Locus EIM

          3. Chart Formatting

          Multiple charts can be created in EIM at one time. Charts can then be formatted using the Format tab. Formatting can include the ability to add milestone lines and shaded date ranges for specific dates on the x axis. The user can also change font, legend location, line colors, marker sizes and types, date formats, legend text, axis labels, grid line intervals or background colors. In addition, users can choose to display lab qualifiers next to non-detects, show non-detects as white filled points, show results next to data points, add footnotes, change the y-axis to log scale, and more. All of the format options can be saved as a chart style set and applied to sets of charts when they are created.

          Chart Formatting in Locus EIM

          Chart Formatting in Locus EIM

          4. Quick Search

          To help customers find the correct EIM menu function, Locus added a search box at the top right of EIM. The search box returns any menu items that match the user’s entered search term.

          Locus EIM Quick Search

          Locus EIM Quick Search

          5. Data Callouts in Locus’ Premium GIS Software

          When the user runs the template for a specific set of locations, EIM displays the callouts in Locus’ premium GIS software, GIS+, as a set of draggable boxes. The user can finalize the callouts in the GIS+ print view and then send the resulting map to a printer or export the map to a PDF file.

          Locus GIS+ Data Callouts

          Locus GIS+ Data Callouts

           

          [sc_button link=”/applications/environmental-information-management/” text=”See more features” link_target=”_self” color=”ffffff” background_color=”52a6ea” centered=”1″]

          The City of Hillsboro, Oregon selects Locus Technologies for Water Data Management

          MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 18 February 2021 — Locus Technologies (Locus) is pleased to announce that The City of Hillsboro Water Department, Oregon has selected Locus EIM to centralize their water data management. Hillsboro Water will utilize Single Sign-On (SSO) for added security and Locus Mobile for field data collection.

          Locus EIM is a leading cloud solution for streamlining water quality data. First developed in 1999, Locus EIM was the first SaaS solution for managing analytical data. Locus EIM is a robust solution for planning, collecting, analyzing, and reporting environmental data.

          Hillsboro Water manages four public water systems (Hillsboro, Cherry Grove, Butternut Creek, and the Joint Water Commission) for almost half a million customers, as well as Barney Reservoir. Locus EIM will be used to enhance the tracking and managing of Hillsboro Water’s water quality data, coordination of regulatory requirements, and to aid in making data-driven decisions.

          “Locus EIM allows us to easily plan, record, QA/QC, and manage our water quality data collected from many different labs and routine field sampling. We are excited to have a software that helps us to quickly make data-based decisions to ensure safe and reliable drinking water for our rapidly growing community,” said Sarah Honious, Water Quality Program Coordinator, City of Hillsboro.

          “The City of Hillsboro Water Department has a complex and technical set of water quality and regulatory sampling protocols. By utilizing Locus EIM, they can now make key decisions based on the analysis of their data, improving the daily lives of their customers,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus.

          ABOUT THE CITY OF HILLSBORO WATER DEPARTMENT
          The City of Hillsboro, through its appointed three-member Utilities Commission, owns and operates a municipal drinking water system that serves more than 80 percent of Hillsboro residents and businesses. Its delivery of clean, reliable water protects public health, enables emergency fire protection, and supports the City’s economic vitality. Learn more at Hillsboro-Oregon.gov/Water.

          Contact us to learn more about Locus’ Water solutions

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            Top 10 Enhancements to Locus Environmental Software in 2020

            Let’s look back on the most exciting new features and changes made in EIM, Locus’ environmental data management software, during 2020!

            Locus EIM Devices

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            1. Expanded EIM API

            Locus expanded the EIM application programming interface (API) to support running any EIM Expert Query. Using a drag and drop interface, an EIM user can create an Expert Query to construct a custom SQL query that returns data from any EIM data table. The user can then call the Expert Query through the API from a web browser or any application that can consume a REST API. The API returns the results in JSON format for download or use in another program. EIM power users will find the expanded API extremely useful for generating custom data reports and for bringing EIM data into other applications.[/sc_icon_with_text]

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            2. Enhanced EIM Search Bar Functionality

            Locus enhanced the usefulness of the EIM search box located at the top right of EIM. A user can now search for a location, field sample, or parameter, and choose from quick links showing any found data records plus related field measurements, groundwater levels, or analytical results. The search box also supports searches across EIM help files. These improvements, along with the existing ability to search for EIM menu items or functions, greatly increase the search bar’s usefulness and make it much easier for users to find what they need. In 2021, Locus plans on further expanding the search bar to allow for generating charts or maps for entered locations or parameters.[/sc_icon_with_text]

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            3. Multisite Support for EIM GIS+

            The EIM GIS+ package brings the power of geographical information systems (GIS) to EIM. In 2020, Locus added multisite support for the GIS+. A user can generate a map showing locations and related results for more than one EIM site at a time. This GIS+ improvement supports cross-site queries and maps, which help greatly with analysis across a portfolio of sites in EIM.[/sc_icon_with_text]

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            4. Support for Sample Planning Notifications

            Locus rolled a new EIM feature in 2020 to support automated email notifications for sample planning events. Users can subscribe to notifications for unreported analysis groups, parameters, or samples; late and upcoming samples; and compliance samples at risk of being late. Each notification can be tailored for specific plans, events, and tasks, and are set to run for specific time window. With these new notification types, users gain more control over their sample planning and are better notified about potential issues. The new sample planning notifications are available in Water EIM but can be deployed to other customer EIM instances on request.[/sc_icon_with_text]

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            5. Continued Water EIM Reporting Support

            EIM is the world’s leading water quality management software used since 1999 by many Fortune 500 companies, water utilities, and the US Government. Locus continues to support water utility customers in EIM through multiple updates done to EIM reporting and analysis. From enhanced support for chlorine field data, to incorporating the latest reporting requirements for the Consumer Confidence Report, Locus continues to expand Water EIM functionality while accounting for variable practices that exist among water utility operators.[/sc_icon_with_text]

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            6. Improved Analytical Views

            Locus continues to upgrade and improve the EIM interface and user experience. In 2020, Locus overhauled the Analytical Views pages in EIM, which support data exports for analytical results as well as laboratory QC samples and results. Multiple EIM menu items were combined into one page that supports all analytical data views. Users are directed through a series of filter selections that culminate in a grid of results. The new page improves usability and provides one centralized place for these data reports.[/sc_icon_with_text]

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            7. Enhanced FTP EDD Loader Abilities

            One of the more powerful modules in EIM is the FTP EDD loader, which lets laboratory users upload multiple analytical EDD files for different sites to a Locus FTP server for batch processing. Lab users do not have to login to EIM to upload each EDD individually. In 2020, Locus augmented this function to support non-analytical EDDs and to accept EDDs from non-lab users. With these changes, any EIM user can upload to the FTP site any number of EDD files in any format for multiple sites. Users may still need to login to EIM to resolve any EDD errors. Interested EIM users should contact Locus to get the needed FTP site credentials.[/sc_icon_with_text]

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            8. Expanded DMR Support

            Locus continues to enhance the Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) module in EIM. In 2020, Locus implemented calculations needed to handle reporting of divalent metals. Locus also added the Florida DEP ezDMR format. Locus continues to add more formats so customers can meet their reporting requirements.[/sc_icon_with_text]

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            9. Improved Parameter Management

            Locus added two new features in EIM to improve support for managing analytical parameters. First, EIM now allows for storing parameter names in the local language and using these translated names in EIM Enhanced Formatted Reports. This function helps non-English customers create reports customized for local users. Second, EIM can handle alternate parameter codes. These ‘aliases’ for the primary parameter code, used in tracking reports and in EDD uploads, ensure that labs are not flagged or penalized for using a parameter code that is synonymous with the expected EIM parameter code.[/sc_icon_with_text]

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            10. Improved Unit Conversions

            Locus enhanced the unit conversion functions in EIM in 2020; these functions are used to convert laboratory analytical results to a consistent set of reporting units. EIM now allows for conversion factors that are parameter specific. Second, EIM now lets users define molecular weight multipliers for use in unit conversions that require molecular weight calculations. Both these changes give users more control and transparency over unit conversions in EIM.[/sc_icon_with_text]

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