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This is more a theoretical question and not an actual problem that I have.

Is it possible to identify or classify projections by their numerical coordinates? Or alternatively rule out in some sort of a decision tree which projection some coordinates have? UTM and Lat-Long projection are normally easy to identify. What about the others?
Of all the possible (and likely many more) projection forms: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_map_projections

Assume the situation that you got a shapefile containing points without any .prj file or other information from the data provider. Is there some sort of pattern I could follow to rule out certain projections from the start?

Maybe someone can give some insight into the diversity and properties of coordinate projections.

PolyGeo
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Curlew
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  • This shows up at #2 on our FAQ for the coordinate-system tag – PolyGeo Sep 10 '14 at 22:42
  • uhh, sry. will delete :) – Curlew Sep 10 '14 at 22:43
  • I'd leave it as another pointer to that Q&A. – PolyGeo Sep 10 '14 at 22:44
  • Curlew: how is UTM easy to identify? There are 60 (bare minimum) different ones, let alone different hemispheres and different national grids at different times in history. It might be data for a different planet or some other purpose entirely. No answer is possible without some knowledge of the data itself: this has to be heuristic and sociological, the very best way is that the person/s responsible provide the actual required information. (It's mad that it's so often neglected). – mdsumner Sep 10 '14 at 23:05

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