How to transform unknown coordinates?

Question

I have two lists of coordinates in lat/long format which are showing the same points but in different coordinate systems.

I need to find the corresponding points in two datasets using distance but as they are in different coordinate systems, it is impossible.

On the other hand, the coordinate systems are not known so that I can use a geographic transformation.

Can I use Affine or projective transformation by extracting few tie points between two datasets?

@PolyGeo: I am hoping to use some matlab functions if the affine or projective transformation can handle the job. otherwise, ArcGIS is the next option. — msc87, Commented Oct 21, 2015 at 12:42
Could you post a sample of the coordinates? If they are in lat/long format, then really what you need is to find the datum involved. Without any knowledge of the datums, your problem is pretty much impossible. — blord-castillo, Commented Oct 21, 2015 at 17:11

Mintx · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-21 17:06:48Z

2

If you don't know the datum or coordinate system for a pair of latitude/longitude coordinates, then the coordinates are ambiguous.

Ambiguous coordinates means any transform or comparison between them will most likely have incorrect results.

answered Oct 21, 2015 at 17:06

Mintx

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