World Imagery old (9.2) is not a feature layer - need to change coordinate system

[KellyGoocher]

Greetings;

I downloaded a layer file from ArcGIS Online (World_Imagery_old.lyr for ArcMap 9.2), 'cuz it's easier than working online all the time.  When I add it as the first layer to a map it sets the data frame properties to WGS84.  But all my other data is in NAD83; which, when i try to add to the map generates a transformation dialogue box (and vice-versa if I start w/ my data and add the World...lyr file). So I tried to change the projection of the World...lyr file but, of course, the Project tool is telling me I can't do that 'cuz the 'layer' file is not a "feature layer" - so what do I do here??  I really just need a basemap of Southern California and this seemingly simple task is consuming hours of my time!

Please help!! 

and btw:  when I do need to do a re-projection from WGS84 to NAD83 - which happens often enough, which transformation option should I use?  I saw on another post that "5" is for the continental US - is that true - how does one figure this out?  Is it posted somewhere or supposed to be common GIS knowledge??

thanks in advance for all your help!

Kelly

[MikeMinami]

The geographic transformation you need to use between WGS84 and NAD83 is NAD_1983_To_WGS_1984_5 within the 48 contiguous US states. You can choose that transformation from the Geographic Coordinate Systems Warning dialog that appears when you add the layer or your other data into your map, or you can open the View > Data Frame Properties dialog, go the Coordinate System tab and choose that transformation in the Transformations subdialog after you�??ve created the map. Here�??s a help topic about this.

The layer file (LYR file) you are accessing just references an online service: it doesn�??t contain any imagery data. When you add an online service into ArcGIS Desktop it is automatically projected on the fly to match the coordinate system and transformation used in your map. When you work with that layer file, the tools in ArcGIS for reprojecting your local data won�??t work on that layer. There are several layer files and layer packages we�??ve added into ArcGIS Online that reference the most commonly used online services to make them easy to access for ArcGIS Desktop users.

PS. If you are using ArcGIS 9.3 or more recent, use this world imagery layer: http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=a5fef63517cd4a099b437e55713d3d54 instead of the one you are using.  This doesn�??t work in 9.2 however, so we still provide the older service so that 9.2 users can work with it.

Hope this helps.

Posted on behalf of Rupert Essinger