topic how to choose projection for map layer in ArcMap Questions

how to choose projection for map layer

RickCheney — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 15:14:16 GMT

I have a map of southern Ontario, Canada. The map has many layers. In ArcMap, when I use the Analyze tool, I get an error message stating:

"Layer's data source has a different projection [ . . . ] than the data frame's projection"

Various layers are:

GCS_WGS_1984

NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_15N

NAD83(CSRS98)

GCS_North_American_1983

Do I need to change the projection for all layers and the Data Frame so they all match? Which projection should I use? Is there a specific projection for southern Ontario? Or can I just choose what looks correct? For example, when the data frame projection is:

NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_15N

WKID: 26915 Authority: EPSG

Projection: Transverse_Mercator

the map looks similar to online maps of Ontario. When I change the data frame to:

Geographic Coordinate System: GCS_North_American_1983

the map looks stretched horizontally.

Re: how to choose projection for map layer

DanPatterson — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 16:01:55 GMT

What type of data are you using? that is anything from the Ministry of Ontario

Ontario GeoHub (gov.on.ca)

If everything fits into 1 UTM zone, then that would be fine. Just don't use Web Mercator if you intend to do any measurements of distance or area.

Re: how to choose projection for map layer

RickCheney — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 16:18:17 GMT

Thanks Dan! Most of the data is from Ministry of Ontario. Do you mean, for example, I could make the Data Frame and the layers all NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_15N

Re: how to choose projection for map layer

DanPatterson — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 16:33:36 GMT

Start with the map frame, set its coordinate system to zone 15 and even if the other layers are in a different coordinate system, they will project-on-the-fly to it. In arcmap and Pro, the first layer added to a map, sets the coordinate system for the map if one isn't set previously.

Search the Ontario sites, they do have data available in a variety of formats, but read up on the metadata for each site...

Re: how to choose projection for map layer

RickCheney — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 00:29:54 GMT

Thank You! That worked.