Missing Spatial Reference: Raster

[BeccaBourson]

Running Arc 9.2

I have raster images that have displayed properly and had a coordinate system assigned to them. Out of the blue (so it seems), the projection goes missing. When the raster is added into a map, the missing spatial reference error shows up and there is no image. When viewing the raster in ArcCatalog preview, the screen is blank. There is nothing there.

I have used some of the rasters to create contours and hillshades (all rasters originally started out as NED or LiDAR bare earth) so I am able to figure out their original projection. When attempting to define the projection either through the data management tool or editing in properties, the process seems to function well but the spatial reference never sticks. The raster still has no spatial reference associated with it.

I would like to know how to correctly assign projections to rasters, but even more so, any ideas on how this �??random�?� corruption could be occurring?

Appreciate any ideas and comments. Thanks!

[SachinKanaujia]

Did you move around the data?

Did you open the data is different versions of ArcMap like 9.3 Vs 10.0/10.1?

Is the location writable by ArcMap? Sometimes permission issues can also cause this problem. Try to move one of the file to your user home directory and see if its not a permission issue !!!

[BeccaBourson]

Sachin,

Thank you for the reply! After doing more research on ESRI forums I found a thread that mentioned paths containing more than 100 characters could cause this error. I moved my data out of the subfolders and into a main folder on my drive and the problem resolved itself immediately! I am so glad I found this thread. So simple. Like you, I too was thinking that there had to have been a coordinate system I deleted somewhere or had read only issues with the folders.

Thanks again for the response.