How to align layers in ArcMap

By Yan Jiang, GIS Graduate Staff Assistant, Map Collection, 6/30/2011

1. ArcMap is able to align layers that have different coordinate systems. So

transforming coordinate system is not the correct direction to fix problem. Before
you start trying to fix the problem, it is important to understand the following
concepts
a. Coordinate system and Projection: the term coordinate system refers to
the coordinates expressed in decimal degrees (i.e., geographic coordinate
system) or the coordinates expressed in meters or feet (i.e., projected
coordinate system). The term projection is an older term that is also used,
but it is not as precise
b. Native coordinate system: all GIS data are collected, created or derived
in a coordinate system which is called the native coordinate system. The
native coordinate system is either stored in the data or recorded
somewhere else (e.g., metadata, document or device such as GPS).
c. Define coordinate system: The coordinate system information, such as
projection parameters, datum and spheroid, needs to be recorded for the
layers such that ArcGIS can recognize the layers coordinate systems. The
process of recording coordinate system using ArcGIS tool or other tools is
called defining coordinate system.
d. On-the-fly projection: ArcGIS can display layer stored in one coordinate
system as if it were in another coordinate system. This is called on-the-fly
projection. ArcGIS automatically integrates layers whose coordinate
systems are well defined by projecting your data on the fly for visualizing,
mapping, analysis, and so forth. Therefore, the layers coordinate systems
need not be the same to align in ArcMap. The on-the-fly projection is used
for display and query purposes only; the actual data is not altered.
e. Data frame coordinate system: to display your data correctly, a data
frame uses a coordinate system. This can be any coordinate system
ArcGIS supports. Data frames coordinate system needs not be the same as
that of the layers. On-the-fly projection, in fact, means that ArcMap
projects all the layers to the data frames coordinate system.
2. Layers do not line up in ArcMap is because ArcMap is not able to project all
layers on the fly correctly. The reasons for this might be
a. the data frame miss coordinate system
b. one or more layers miss coordinate system
c. one or more layers have incorrectly defined coordinate system
3. Check the data frame coordinate system. When ArcMap is started with a new,
empty map, the coordinate system for the default data frame is not defined. The
first layer added to an empty data frame sets the coordinate system for the data
frame. If the first layer has an undefined coordinate system, the data frame
coordinate system is set to Unknown. The layers added subsequently will not be

projected on the fly and will be displayed in its native coordinate system. Even if
you removed the first layer from the table of content, the coordinate system of
data frame is still set as undefined. You can define the coordinate system for data
frame in two ways:
a. You can use the Data Frame Properties dialog box to set or change the
coordinate system. If you change the data frame's coordinate system, all
layers that have coordinate systems will be projected on the fly to the new
coordinate system.
b. Start a new, empty data frame and add a layer with a defined coordinate
system. ArcMap will automatically set the data frame's coordinate system
to be the same as that of the layer. The layers added subsequently will be
automatically projected to the data frames coordinate system as long as
they have defined coordinate systems.
4. Check the layer coordinate systems. ArcMap will not project data on the fly if the
coordinate system for the layer has not been defined. Therefore, you should check
if all the layers have the defined coordinate systems. The methods to detect the
unknown coordinate system include
a. If the coordinate system is unknown, you will receive a warning message
when trying to add the layer to ArcMap as shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 1
b. In the table of content, right click the layer name, click properties, and
click the Source tab in the Layer Properties dialog box. If the layer doesn't
have a coordinate system defined, the coordinate system will be listed as
Unknown on the dialog box as shown in Figure 2. In this case, you need to
identify and define the coordinate systems for the layer.

Fig. 2
5. If all layers have defined coordinate systems as shown in Figure 3 but the layers
do not line up, one or more layers must have used wrong coordinate systems. You
need to find the correct coordinate system (step 6) and modify the definition.

Fig. 3
6. Identify unknown coordinate system for layers. Usually you can obtain the
coordinate system information from the data source (metadata or GIS staff). In
case you are not able to obtain the coordinate system information from the data
source, ArcGIS 9.3 online help document Identifying an unknown coordinate
system described the techniques to find the correct coordinate system. But the
investigation process might be tedious.