# 6.6 Stations

An overview of the _Stations_ tab is shown in Figure 29. This tab creates a stations.map file that is used by the SPHY model to report time-series output. In order to create this file you need to have a stations.shp shapefile. If you do not have this file, then you need to create it by following the same steps as done for the outlets.shp file (step 1-9, Section 3.5) but now naming it stations.shp instead of outlets.shp. For the stations it is not mandatory to place them on the river network if you are interested in other fluxes besides river flow. If you like the same locations for your stations as are present in the outlets, then you can simply save the outlets.shp as stations.shp.&#x20;

<figure><img src="https://4210278315-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F68y0QNUHmAMyqeH7yW67%2Fuploads%2FPS7Bag6yWHPdtwmH9j6Z%2Fafbeelding.png?alt=media&#x26;token=b4297373-e502-48c5-ace3-a877853a62c3" alt=""><figcaption><p>Figure 29: Overview of the Stations tab.</p></figcaption></figure>

After creating the stations.shp shapefile you can click the _Select station(s) shapefile_ button and select the stations.shp shapefile. Now the GUI may look something similar like Figure 30. Finally press the _Create stations_ button to create the stations.map file. This process normally runs very quickly. Now move on to the _Meteorological forcing_ tab.

<figure><img src="https://4210278315-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F68y0QNUHmAMyqeH7yW67%2Fuploads%2FEiSHHH83wEiQQV2zEXQk%2Fafbeelding.png?alt=media&#x26;token=59ef777f-9112-45e2-b955-b2a93880fd4a" alt=""><figcaption><p>Figure 30: Overview of the Stations tab with the station(s) shapefile selected.</p></figcaption></figure>
