Let’s get to it then - although I’m still going to start generic. Enough background, how do we transform between NAD83 and NAD83 CSRSįine, not interested in the background. This is the case for many scenarios: Project tool (and raster project tool), ArcMap “on-the-fly” transformations via Data frame properties, and Mosaic dataset geographic transformation options to name a few of the big ones. As for the latter, hopefully you already knew - and if not, consider this post a rude awaking that your previous NAD83 to NAD83 CSRS transformations didn’t do what you thought (as the tools still “work” without any error messages or warnings). To answer the first question, keep reading. A frequent question I get from that post is “how do I set this up?”, usually followed by “why didn’t anyone tell us?“.
I’ve subtly mentioned this before when discussing steps to upgrade ArcGIS. Blame the pre-Open government era if we must. Matter of fact: Esri, PCI, GeoMedia, QGIS, and other GIS software all have this exact same issue - the grid files are proprietary so the software companies traditionally haven’t been allowed to include them. Now, before we show up at Jack’s office in Redlands with pitchforks and torches, you should know one thing - it’s not their fault. Why you ask? Even though many Canadian geographic transformations are supported in ArcGIS, the required files aren’t installed by default. If you work with data in Canada, be careful when projecting data from one GCS to another (NAD83 and NAD83 CSRS).
If you are using high quality LiDAR or survey data you need to be careful about setting up the correct transformation (and still update the metadata on how you transformed!). So it’s important to think about your requirements, and to document in your metadata how you changed the data. Generally, the differences between original NAD83 and the CSRS adjustment are less than a meter, so depending on your data, you may be able to forgo a conversion.” Wise words. The Guru, Melita Kennedy’s quote: “NAD83 CSRS is a re-adjustment of the original NAD83 geographic coordinate system (datum). If using ArcGIS 10.6x, the newer v6 and v7 Geographic systems are available - in older versions you need to create it. As of 2018, CSRS v6 and v7 are becoming very popular - however there is no specific transformations available at this time. Update : Please note that different Geographic systems need specific transformations. Update : Fixed a small, yet important, typo in the ‘Create transformation’ steps.