We are pleased to announce that we have released Terrain Analysis Package (TAP™) 7.7.3 with several new features along with updated U.S. Land Cover data.  Highlights of recent TAP™ 7.7.x releases include:

• NLCD 2021 Land Cover Data: TAP™ uses land cover data to apply clutter losses and/or obstructions based on land cover category.  Of course, land cover categories change over time.  The latest U.S. National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2021 data files are now available.
• New Safe Harbor ERP Calculator:  The U.S. Federal Communication Commission (FCC) sets forth transmission power restrictions known as Safe Harbor Effective Radiated Power (ERP) limits. These Safe Harbor ERP limits vary based on frequency, distance, the radiating antenna Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT), and other factors.  The calculator allows users to easily calculate the Safe Harbor ERP limits for transmitter sites in certain frequency bands.  This tool calculates safe harbor ERP limits for multiple sections of 47 CFR Part 90.
• Using Bullington Propagation Model as a Backup in Certain Occluded Longley-Rice Scenarios:  Longley-Rice is the most popular propagation model choice for terrestrial VHF/UHF applications.  However, there are certain path profile conditions that impact the internal calculations of Longley-Rice and are flagged in the output as possibly unreliable (i.e., as an “Error 3”).  These profile conditions are usually associated with diffraction cases and the distance to, and/or height of, the local horizon.  These situations tend to be more prevalent when vector surface features (e.g., buildings) are used in studies.  In TAP™, there is now an option in the Longley-Rice model setup to automatically use Bullington knife edge diffraction to provide valid propagation results when an Error 3 is identified.
• Range Limited Building Downloads:  Downloading buildings for a large and/or urban area coverage study is time- and resource- consuming.  It is not uncommon (e.g., air-to-ground studies) for the impactful buildings to be located close to a Fixed Facility.  TAP™ now allows users to only download buildings within a specified range of a Fixed Facility.
• Project Explorer Filtering:  The Project Explorer now provides a text-based filter feature to facilitate finding a specific study with in a large project containing many folders and studies.
• Increased Max Number of Frequencies and Orders for Intermod Studies:  In Intermodulation Studies, the max number of frequencies has been increased from four to seven and the maximum intermodulation product order has been increased from nine to thirteen.