Before working with coordinate systems in AutoCAD Map 3D, it's important to understand the basic

concepts of coordinate systems. The concepts in this lesson are not limited to AutoCAD Map 3D, but

to coordinate systems in general.

So what is a coordinate system? Basically, a coordinate system is a method of describing a location of

a point on a map. You might be familiar with the standard Cartesian coordinate system in standard

AutoCAD, but this system doesn't work well when you're describing the locations of objects on the

surface of a spherical shape, such as the Earth. For example, if you were to peel an orange and then

try to flatten the peel out, there would be all sorts of distortions and tears. Furthermore, a standard

Cartesian coordinate system could represent any location on the face of the earth, depending upon

where the origin is. A global coordinate system does more than provide X and Y coordinates; it ties

those coordinates specifically to a unique location on earth.

There are three components to a coordinate system that you must work with to help manage that

distortion and unique location:

the projection,

local parameters,

and datum.

Projections refers to the mathematical process that transforms the earth's surface into a two-

dimensional plane. And, as discussed with the orange peel, there will always be some distortion in any

projection. There are four different types of distortion that a projection system can attempt to balance:

angle, area, distance, and direction.

Different projection systems attempt to maintain as much of the integrity as possible of one of these

four, at the expense of the other three, by giving more weight to it.

UTM is a common projection system. "UTM" stands for "Universal Transverse Mercator." Some of its

common uses are in topographic maps, such as the USGS quadrangle maps. It's based on a grid

system that is divided into 6-degree columns, with 60 columns to cover the entire globe.

The State Plane system is another common system that is used in North America. State Plane

systems take into account the local area and shape, and then apply projections and datums that best
represent those local requirements. These systems are most commonly used in city and county maps,

and are common in civil engineering site mapping.

Local parameters are another component of a coordinate system.

Projection origin is one local parameter. Distortion of coordinate systems increases the further away

from the point of origin, so local parameters will try to set the origin as close as possible to the area

being mapped.
Other local parameters include the scale factor, units of measurement, and displacement.

A state plane system is one that includes local parameters. For example, you could have a NAD 83

California State planes system, in zone one, and in US feet. And that would describe the zone name

and number, as well as the units of measure.

And finally, the datum is the third component of the coordinate system definition. This includes the

point of origin, and also a model of the earth upon which the datum is based.

That model is either an ellipsoid, or a spheroid.

Some of the more common datums used in North America are NAD 27, NAD 83, and WGS 84.

The North American Datum of 1927 was a survey conducted in 1927, using a point of origin in

Kansas, and using the technology of that time.

The North American Datum of 1983 was conducted in 1983 using the available technology of the time,

including satellite data. In this case, it was based on a point in the center of the earth rather than on

the surface of the earth, in Kansas.

WGS 84 is also another common datum that is used, often with Global Positioning Systems. It uses a

single ellipsoid which represents the entire surface of the earth, and is based primarily on satellite data

used to collect that survey information.