How to “clear” the coordinate system of the “Map” to get it to “unknown” in ArcGIS Pro,

[JamalNUMAN]

How to “clear” the coordinate system of the “Map” to get it to “unknown” in ArcGIS Pro,

For example, in ArcMap, the clear option is available and one can set the “data frame” to unknown. I couldn’t figure out how to “clear” the coordinate system of the “Map” to get it to “unknown” in ArcGIS Pro as this option is not there

[GregoryLund2]

Melita,

I think we are talking about getting the 'ArcMap' functionality, into ArcPro.
I think that Jamal NUMAN‌ is saying, is that it does NOT work that way in ArcPro.

Apologies if I'm missing something.

Greg

[curtvprice]

projection on the fly JPEG - yuck! Definitely going on a lecture slide!

[GregoryLund2]

You're welcome. 🙂

[KarlTian]

Melita Kennedy‌

Hello Melita, 

Sorry to bring this topic up again, but in ArcMap, the option "unknown"  works so good for many many years, I really can't see how could there be "too many side issues" for that in ArcGIS Pro.

And there is another good reason for "unknown" to exsit is for local refence.

Some data uses local or regional coordinate system that doesn't exist in Pro. So we have to reset them to "unknown" and then define project to something that in the system. That way we keep the original coordinates(and it's location) put them into a new refrence without transformation.

To be clear, we always choose the new refrence with closest central meridian to avoid and minimal the deformation.

In fact, the entire support of coordinate systems has been declined  since the good old ArcMap. In Pro we can still use a prj file to define local refrence, but not in Enterprise.

So not only we want a "unknown" option in Pro, we also want an upgrade in local refence on all Esri platform, if it's possible.

Thank you.

Karl

[GregoryLund2]

What he said!

[NeilFordyce]

Setting projection to unknown is a standard practise if you want to find out what the raw unprojected coordinates are. I used to do this all the time but can't in ArcGIS PRO and ArcMap 10.7.1 crashes if I do this.

How else can you check the "actual" raw data locations of imagery with swipe if you have projections and transformations set?

I see data sets all the time that have incorrect projection information.  Load them into arc with no projection and you can see the displacement in the raw coordinate values.. beats removing the projection files...

Local planar two point grids as used in the Minerals and Mining industry cannot, as far as I know, be defined in arc so data from them often remains without a projection file.

[deleted-user-2Fg69EwaShGZ]

This goes back to the original point I was trying to make earlier in this discussion.  The ability to have an unknown and arbitrary plane "projection" allows for the use of all kinds of data in the GIS. It is a powerful functionality that exists in ArcGIS Desktop (a rare +1 for ArcGIS Desktop) and allows the user to put any kind of data they want into the system. Taking away that functionality is limiting the users. There is no way ESRI can know all the ways their software is being used. Software should never be limiting just to be limiting. Put this functionality back into ArcPro, users will have to be knowledgeable about GIS to get the tools that require projections to function properly, and put this discussion to rest.

[MargaretMaher]

This issue was logged as BUG-000114029 in May 2018, and has been marked as "Not in Current  Product Plan by Esri Development.  However, effective with version 2.7 of ArcGIS Pro, it is possible to add data to the Pro project that does not have a projection defined.  In earlier versions, a default coordinate system was assigned to the data - either GCS_WGS_1984, or WGS_1984_Web_Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere - which were wrong in most cases.

The extent of the data which has the unknown projection definition can be viewed in the Catalog Pane in ArcGIS Pro, and with some preliminary research about coordinate extents for the area, in commonly used coordinate systems for the area, it is usually pretty easy to figure out what projection the data was created in.  If nothing matches, i.e. CAD data, it may be necessary to create a custom projection file to align the data.

The fundamental issue to remember is that Project on the Fly works.  If the data has a projection defined, and you have set the appropriate datum transformation, but the data does not show up in the correct location, the assigned projection is wrong.  Clear that projection definition, and follow instructions in Knowledge article 000007880 and related articles to identify the coordinate system, or create a custom projection to align the data.

[GregoryLund2]

Great to see you commenting here Ms Maher. Margaret Maher

I ran into a related issue yesterday, a file downloaded from the Pierce County (WA) Open GeoSpatial Data Portal Pierce County WA Open GeoSpatial Data Portal (v2.1) that was NAD83_HARN_Washington_South_ftUS. When I tried to Project to NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_10N and/or NAD_1983_HARN_StatePlane_Washington_South_FIPS_4602_Feet, I could not get a Geographic Transformation to work (there was no dropdown to use. (using 10.7.1 ArcMap btw) thus, tried to Project without one, and we know what happened then... I didn't 'Line up Data in ArcGIS' :-).
I've spoken with Pierce County about this, who stated: (and arguably, this information belongs in a different discussion, but it is semi-related...

"Shapefiles have downloaded from Open Data in NAD83_HARN_Washington_South_ftUS projection since ESRI enabled native projections (2015/2016??).  "

and:

"In this case, you may be the first person to discover the problem with re-projecting NAD83_HARN_Washington_South_ftUS using ArcMap."

 "I would be curious if shapefiles can be re-projected using open source GIS software.  It might be a good project for a student.  QGIS is the one I would try first. "

For the record.

I'm still voting for Esri to allow the 'clearing of the projection' in ArcPro.

Let the user decide? 🙂

[JamalNUMAN]

Is there any chance to the have the “clear” command implemented in 2.5?