Project Raster: Error 000289 Failed to alter spatial reference

[CarinaZacharias]

Hi,

I have a problem that does not seem to be answered by any previous forum entry or ESRI support pages. I simply tried to use the Project Raster tool to reproject a raster layer. It has worked before (with a different layer), but now I get this error:

In the description it says: "The spatial reference of the dataset cannot be altered. The dataset may be in use by another application and therefore locked." But I don't really know what to make of this.

Please, can anybody help? Thanks very much!

[DanPatterson_Retired]

Try closing arcmap... reboot if necessary and try again...

failing that, ensure that the raster has a defined coordinate system to begin with

[JayantaPoddar]

Close all applications. Go to Windows Task Manager and close (End Process) for ArcMap.exe, if any.

Open a new ArcMap Window and try again.

[CarinaZacharias]

Thanks. Yes, I have tried closing and reopening and I've tried again now, but that doesn't help unfortunately. They have a defined coordinate reference system - I am only redefining and reprojecting it to solve another problem actually.

[DanPatterson_Retired]

opening and closing the project isnt enough... there is a lock... try a reboot, new empty project, add just that file, then project it.  if that doesn't work, export it to a new file and try again

[CarinaZacharias]

Sadly, I cannot reboot as I am at a university computer. But I now noticed when I open the layer in a new map it gives me this warning (below). Does this mean something?

[DanPatterson_Retired]

The file has been defined wrong, that is why the extents are inconsistent with what is expected.  Use the Define Projection and define it to what it is supposed to be... you can get some hints by looking at the extents in the layer properties.  If they are in the range -180 to 180 and 90 to -90, then it was a geographic coordinate system.  If the numbers are big, then the file is in a projected coordinate system.

PS to reboot a university computer... press and hold the power button, or switch it off at the back... my students do it all the time

[JayantaPoddar]

The above warning comes when when the coordinate values exceeds the spatial extent of any coordinate system.

e.g. This is a known incident when you are defining a Geographic Coordinate System to a raw image before georeferencing. No problem here. But this could also arise due to defining a wrong coordinate system to your data. In the second case, you need to define the correct coordinate system to your data.

If you are still having confusions with defining a projection and projecting a data, please follow the given link:

http://support.esri.com/technical-article/000006790

[CarinaZacharias]

Exporting to a new file hasn't changed anything either, I am afraid.

[CarinaZacharias]

Thanks for your advice and the interesting link! I have made a screenshot of the extent of one of the layers: The numbers are indeed big and suggest a projected coordinate system although right underneath it says "Spatial reference: GCS_WGS_1984". I continue to be confused by this somehow ... What I did was: I used the Define Projection tool to define WGS 1984 and then I wanted to use the Project Raster tool to make it to UTM 48 because I intend to do some corridor modelling (for species movement) that involves distance calculation and I wanted the distance to be measured in meters. This procedure was adviced in this discussion: What projection should I use to measure in meters?

But, if I understand correctly, it was wrong to define WGS 1984 as a reference system. So, I just have to find the right geographic coordinate system and then it should work?