topic geodesic area=0 for a shapefile in ArcGIS Pro Questions

geodesic area=0 for a shapefile

zhongying_gan — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 04:18:40 GMT

Hello,

I use arcgis pro. I'm looking at the census block map shapefile that I downloaded from the census website (area1.png). I would like to compute the geodesic areas of the polygons. The attribute table of the shapefile looks like this (area2.png). I created a new field called "area", right-clicked, clicked "Calculate Geometry", and picked "area (geodesic)" under "property". However, all the entries under the field "area" turned out to be zero. I was wondering whether anyone could help me understand why. Thank you.

Re: geodesic area=0 for a shapefile

JayantaPoddar — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 06:27:44 GMT

What is the current coordinate system of the shapefile? Please share screenshot of the coordinate system and the shapefile's Spatial (XY) extent. Use of an incorrect coordinate system may also cause this issue.

While calculating geometry, what unit are you using for calculating the area?

Check if converting the shapefile to geodatabase feature class helps. https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/tool-reference/conversion/feature-class-to-feature-class.htm

Re: geodesic area=0 for a shapefile

DanPatterson — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 11:51:24 GMT

try Add Geometry Attributes (Data Management)—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

rather than the shortcut to calculating geometry properties

Re: geodesic area=0 for a shapefile

zhongying_gan — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 17:49:50 GMT

Hello. Thank you for replying. I tried "Add Geometry Attributes", but still ended up with 0 for the geodesic area when I used the shapefile, and ended up with <Null> for the geodesic area when I used a feature layer in geodatabase. I have tried different units, including square miles, square feet, and square kilometers. The results were the same. I was wondering whether you have any thoughts on this. Thank you.

Re: geodesic area=0 for a shapefile

zhongying_gan — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 22:52:38 GMT

Hello. I just tried "Add Geometry Attributes" again and it suddenly worked. I don't know why this morning it didn't work for several times but suddenly worked in the afternoon. I didn't change a thing.

Re: geodesic area=0 for a shapefile

DanPatterson — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 23:21:56 GMT

Cant blame the Friday glitches at least 😉