Updates to Coordinate Conversion in Professional 10.0.1.2898 (June 16, 2025)

The way OpenGround manages coordinate conversions was updated to shift away from using proj4 strings to using an API based System. This change was implemented as a stepping stone to a more robust coordinate conversion process. This update allows OpenGround to be better aligned with industry standards, as well as automatically adjusting conversions as EPSG codes are deprecated.

FAQS:

1) Why shift away from Proj4 Strings?

                Previously there was a complex series of conversions that took place in the background for every location entered, this involved converting between Easting/Northing, Latitude/Longitude and Bing Coordinate systems. This was a source of potential variance in the coordinates compared to more direct methods.

2) What coordinate systems are different using the methods?

               The majority of widely used systems such as State Plane, UTM NAD83 grids and GDA94 grids will not notice any differences between using the proj.4 string and the API. However, coordinate systems will see a small shift on the displayed location on the map. This mostly affects newer coordinate systems that rely on complex transformations (such as Canadian CSRS based grids).

3) My locations appear off on the map compared to where I believe they should be.

                There can always be a difference between what Bing maps shows versus where a location was actually located. However if you wish to verify that the coordinate conversion is correct, you can reproject the coordinates for several projects easily from the project selection screen:

                Select the projects and Click “Bulk Update Coord. Systems”

                Choose the desired coordinate system

                Pick the coordinate system you want to keep and click update.

 

4) What do I need to do with my existing coordinate systems to make sure they work with the API?

                Make sure they follow the CRS value in the coordinate system follow the EPSG:CRSCode format (Some allowance is allowed with spaces, i.e. EPSG : CRS). State Plain coordinate systems are based on ESRI codes and currently are not used by the API.

 5) Why do I still need to input a Proj string if the EPSG code will be used.

For situations where the EPSG code fails to return a valid conversion via the API, the Proj string will be used as a backup. There are also situations where a coordinate system may not have a EPSG code (Such as most State Plane systems), in which case the Proj string will be used.