Why is my imported map showing up so small?

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04-15-2016 10:35 PM
AlexMcComb
New Contributor

     I have .asc files that contains a map of a predicted species distribution I got from using MaxEnt.  When I import the file with the data frame properties set to North American Albers Equal Area the map shows up only about 60 meters across and 50 meters tall, when the coordinates are originally from Top: 76.06, Left: -163, Right: -102.16, Bottom: 27.10-it even says these coordinates in the Extent information in the Layer Properties.

      I converted the .asc to raster, reclassified the values (0 for absent, 1 for present), extracted the present values using the Extract by Attribute tool, then turned the present area into a polygon, all while changing the layers projections-yet still it remains small.  The ultimate reason for making the projection correct is to calculate the predicted area of the species.  The area calculated in the attribute table is also incorrect.  I provided screenshots below.

What could possibly be happening?  Thanks in advance.

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DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

Your last screen shot's file extent shows that the file is in a geographic coordinate system and not a projected coordinate system.  If you used the Define Projection tool instead of the Project tool, undo the error and define it back to a geographic coordinate system, then use the Project tool