function latDecDeg = latDDM2DD(latDDM, latHemi)
  fields = split(latDDM, '.');
  a = convertStringsToChars(fields);
  minChars = a{1}(end-1:end);
  degChars = a{1}(1:end-2);
  latDecDeg = str2double(degChars) + (str2double(minChars)/60.0) + (str2double("." + a(2))/60.0);
  if(latHemi == "S")
      latDecDeg = -1.0 * latDecDeg;
  end
end

