Pixel size when changing from geographic to projected coordinate system?

Question

I have a large raster dataset spanning ~5 degrees of latitude N-S. I know the geographic projection has a spatial resolution of 0.00025 degrees, meaning that the dimensions of each pixel in meters varies depending on latitude.

I have counted the number of pixels in the raster representing different land cover classes. How would I go about converting these pixel counts to area in m2 if the pixel dimensions are variable?

Would simply converting to a projected coordinate system (ie in ArcGIS) standardize the pixel dimensions so that I can multiply pixel counts by a constant area?

Answer 1

Yes, if you project it from a geographic to a projected coordinate system each pixel will have the same area and you can multiply by pixel count to get total area. How accurate that total is will depend on the coordinate system you choose.