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Aligning Map Layers

Map Layers

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Maneesh Massey
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64 views

Aligning Map Layers

Map Layers

Uploaded by

Maneesh Massey
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Aligning Map Layers

Sources: Why Dont My Layers Line Up? Geographic Information Systems in the
Design School, Harvard University; Peters and MacDonald, Unlocking the Census with
GIS.

If the map layers dont properly align, begin by checking the coordinate system:

Check the coordinate system not only in ArcCatalog for each data layer but
also in Arc Maps Data Frame/ Properties/Coordinate System.

What coordinate system to use?

First, identify the appropriate units.


o If there are projection coordinates in Data Frame/ Properties, clear
them.
o Data Frame/Properties/General/Units/Map: set to unknown units.
o Right-click on each map layer and click Zoom to Layer.
Make sure that Status Bar is set to display coordinates.
Pass the mouse across the map: if all the x-coordinates are
between 180 and 180 and all the y-coordinates between 90
and 90, then the layer has an unprojected, Latitude Longitude
in Decimal Degrees (Geographic) coordinate system.
If the coordinates are not in decimal degrees, they are
probably in meters or feet. Using the Measurement tool,
measure the distance between two known points to
gauge the layers length in natural units.

Second, identify the projection.


o If a U.S. state or municipal agency is responsible for creating the data,
they are probably in a corresponding state plane zone.
o If the data are part of a broader database that is divided into small,
tiled datasets (e.g., U.S. Geological Survey maps), then the projection
is probably in a corresponding zone of the Universal Transverse
Mercator System (UTM).

Third, identify the earth model (also called the Geographic Coordinate
System).
o If they are North American data, try North American Datum (NAD)
1927 (if pre-1983) or 1983 (if that year or later).
o If they are not North American data, then try World Geodetic Spheroid
1972 or 1984.

In experimenting with coordinate systems:


o If you revise ArcMaps Data Frame projection, layers with defined
coordinate systems will change but layers with undefined coordinate
systems will not.
o So, if the defined layers correctly align with the undefined layer, then
you chose the right coordinate system. Define the Data Frame
coordinate system.

1
o Check and define coordinate systems and map units in ArcCatalog, and
define ArcMap Data Frames coordinate system and map units, before
incorporating data into ArcMap.

In general (see Peters and MacDonald, 79-83):


o Be sure that the coordinate systems and measurement units for
each layer are the same.
o E.g., DEMs are usually formatted in UTM NAD 83 but sometimes in
NAD 27, and you must check that their ground (x,y) and elevation (z)
coordinates are consistently in meters or feet.
o If youre using a DEM, define the DEMs coordinate system and define
ArcMaps Data Frame coordinate system to match the DEMs, then
bring vector data into the map.
The coordinate systems and measurement units for data sets
should be defined in ArcCatalog and in ArcMaps Data Frame
before bringing data sets into ArcMap.
The computers computations for DEMs are much more
intensive than for vector data, so dont use on the fly
projections involving DEMs (Peters and MacDonald, 79-80).

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