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I have data that spreads across two UTM Zones GDA/MGA94 UTM Zone 55 and 56. I have layers such as a cadastre, roads, pipelines etc where I want to store measurements like lengths and areas in metres or some kind of metric notation, not degrees!

Whats the best way to manage this in PostGIS (i'm using PostGreSQL 8.4 PostGIS 1.5)? Should I be storing my data as GDA94 Geographic coords and using some sort of work around to calculate the measurements I require? Or is there another way to handle this?

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6 Answers 6

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Based on the information provided I would be looking at using a different projection which is not tied to the UTM Zones, like GeoScience Australia's Lambert Conformal Conic Projection. This will have some distortion effects but they will be minimal. The distance unit is metres. It should also get through the issue of the state crossing as all agencies are meant to be able to use this projection as GA is the primary mapping body in the country. Check with your requirements as this may be an option.

The projection is available for download if not provided from this website.

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    just have to be careful using Lamberts Conformal Conic when you are interested particularly in areas, it is not an equal - area projection and thus introduces errors in area calculation.
    – Kelso
    Commented Nov 30, 2010 at 22:10
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Have you tried using the geography data type. That stores in long lat and returns measurements in meters. You can then use a combination of CAST to geometry and transform for display if you need to project for displaying the data.

http://www.postgis.org/documentation/manual-1.5SVN/ch04.html#PostGIS_GeographyVSGeometry http://www.postgis.org/documentation/manual-1.5SVN/ch04.html#PostGIS_Geography

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    Thanks I had seen the geography data type mentioned, I will read your links to find more out about it. I also have the PDF version of PostGIS in Action, it mentions that for localised areas the geography data type measurements tend to not be as precise as geometry measurements.
    – Ando
    Commented Nov 23, 2010 at 20:25
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Pick the UTM that most of your data falls in, and use it for all data. UTM Zones have (a half degree I believe of) overlap for just this reason. Measurements won't be too far off in this overlap zone.

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    This is actually not good advice. The distortion in a UTM projection increases the farther east/west you get from the central meridian. The reason the concept of zones were adapted in the first place is to establish a cutoff point at which that distortion becomes unacceptable. An Albers projection is a better compromise for data >6 degrees in extent (also see gis.stackexchange.com/questions/2769/…)
    – matt wilkie
    Commented May 18, 2011 at 17:59
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    That's a reasonable caution, @Matt, but we need to bear in mind that "acceptable" depends on the circumstances. For instance, that half degree can be extended many degrees up in the extreme latitudes with no ill effect. For a discussion of the distortion introduced by crossing UTM zone boundaries, please see the (more recent) thread at gis.stackexchange.com/questions/31701/….
    – whuber
    Commented Aug 25, 2012 at 2:55
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    I find doing this always causes issues down the road when coordinates and projections do not match. Avoid it unless it is the only option.
    – If you do not know- just GIS
    Commented Jan 11, 2016 at 22:56
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Is there not a local projection for the country/region you are working in? If so that would be the best one to use.

Edit based on comments:

Looking on http://spatialreference.org for Australia indicates that EPSG:3112 would work for you or EPSG:3577, depending on if you need equal area or conformal shapes.

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    There is. However we also cross two states, and they both have a Lambert projection that they push for state wide mapping and data storage.
    – Ando
    Commented Nov 23, 2010 at 20:40
  • NSW and VIC? There's no easy way to do this without adopting one or the other projection (or your own) and just transforming between different data sources as required.
    – mdsumner
    Commented Nov 23, 2010 at 23:47
  • Yep NSW and VIC. I want to avoid creating my own projection if I can.
    – Ando
    Commented Nov 24, 2010 at 0:14
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There are a series of projections suited to this exact situation, 10TM, 6TM and 3TM. They are essentially Transverse Mercator slices with custom central meridians, spanning 10 degrees, 6 degrees, or 3 degrees of longitude, respectively. I first encountered them working on data within the City of Calgary, which straddles two UTM zones. A reference: http://www.mncl.ca/projection-transformation.htm

Speaking of Calgary, that city happens to be split in half by two WRS-2 polygons - making LS7 imagery a chore.

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Since you deal with long linear features like pipelines, the best solution is to store the data in the good old 'WorldMercartor' projection (epsg 3395). Then you can obtain the large scale data. If you need something more precise for a given spot, then write a query to reproject that spot to a local projection to obtain precise data.

Remember that the Mercartor projection is famous becouse it preserves lines as lines (not arcs) over great distances.

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    What do you mean "lines as lines (not arcs)"? It correctly represents loxodromes as straight lines, and it's famous for that because of ocean navigation by compass, and for being a simple projection to generate.
    – mdsumner
    Commented Nov 30, 2010 at 22:26

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