Tell me more ×
Geographic Information Systems Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for cartographers, geographers and GIS professionals. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

I imported a shapefile from the following link http://geocommons.com/overlays/176. However, it does not import correctly. The data comes in as a "mini planet" in the middle of the US. I only know this becomes I zoomed-in a gazillion times to see it. I thought the problem was due to meters versus decimal degrees when I looked at the properties. However, I changed it and it still does not work. Help, please?

Thanks,

M

share|improve this question
The data seems to be ok. They're canonically defined in the wsg84 datum: tinypic.com/r/34gahdw/6 Maybe the software you're using is not configured correctly or you have overlooked something? – nickves Sep 8 '12 at 21:14
5  
Please explain the steps you took to "change it" as it's highly likely that this is where the problem lies. Also, which program are you using? – Stephen Lead Sep 9 '12 at 2:06

closed as not a real question by whuber♦ Sep 29 '12 at 20:54

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

2 Answers

up vote 0 down vote

Did you enable "on the fly" transformation? Its a small button on bottom right corner in QGIS ( I am assuming you are using QGIS) and then 'check' the button that says "Enable 'on the fly' CRS transformation".

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

As mentioned by Stephen Lead in his comment, the steps are important. Make sure that the projection of your shape matches with your Layer projection. Try adding the shape first, then add additional layers. ArcGIS automatically sets your Layer projection to your first added shapefile. Or another way: change the projection of your downloaded shapefile and see what happens.

share|improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.