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I have seen similar questions and read the responses but did not understand any of the answers even after reading them several times closely, including Adding XY Points to ArcMap?

I am adding XY data to an existing ArcMap document (ArcGIS Desktop 10.4). The existing feature class that I want to add the points on top of has a coordinate system of NAD_1983_StatePlane_Florida_East_FIPS_0901_Feet and a projection of Transverse_Mercator.

I added XY data, setting X Field = Longitude and Y Field = Latitude. I allowed the Coordinate System of the Input Coordinates to remain the default, which was Projected Coordinate System NAD_1983_StatePlane_Florida_East_FIPS_0901_Feet and Geographic Coordinate System GCS_North_American_1983.

The points created by ArcMap are not in the correct location. I know this is a projection issue, but I am not sure how to fix it.

If you direct me to change or define projections, specify exactly which feature classes you mean - my existing feature class or the newly added XY points. I read one answer that said to change the projection of the data frame, but did not say how this is to be accomplished.

OLON         OLAT    
-80.19112    26.11602
-80.15004    26.200484
-80.14676553 26.17532654
-80.19112    26.11602
-80.15004    26.200484
-80.20728    26.24123
PolyGeo
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Louis Merlin
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    Those are *not* state plane coords. You need to specify what the data is, not what you want it to be. – Vince Jun 26 '18 at 14:38
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    To change the projection of the Data Frame, right-click in the map area and select "Properties" -- this should bring up the Data Frame Properties dialog. On the Coordinate System tab, you can change the projection of the Data Frame. – cmrRose Jun 26 '18 at 14:38
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    @Vince is correct- you need to figure out what spatial reference your new points were collected in. How did you get those new points? Are they from a GPS device? – cmrRose Jun 26 '18 at 14:42
  • The data are from a travel behavior survey that I myself did not conduct. I reviewed the documentation from the survey and they did not specify a coordinate system. This lack of metadata is a common problem. – Louis Merlin Jun 26 '18 at 16:07
  • @DanC I disagree that this is a duplicate question. This specifically comes from using the Add XY tool which the other question does not address. – Louis Merlin Jun 27 '18 at 17:09
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    This problem is not specific to the Add XY tool. No matter how you bring those coordinates into GIS, if you tell GIS that your coordinates are in the Florida State Plane coordinate system, and they're actually in lat/long, they will not show up in the right place. As Vince says, at that step (third paragraph of your question), you need to specify what coordinate system the data is in, not what you want it to be in. If you get it wrong, it won't show up correctly. – Dan C Jun 27 '18 at 17:17
  • But if you add the data using the Add XY tool correctly, then no further action is needed to address the problem. This would seem to be useful to other people who have the same problem with the Add XY tool. – Louis Merlin Jun 28 '18 at 14:42

1 Answers1

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The solution turned out to be setting the Coordinate System of the Input Coordinates to GCS_North_American_1983 within the Add XY Data window prompt.

Louis Merlin
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