[GIS] Latitude and longitude from .shp file with QGIS

latitude longitudeqgisshapefile

I opened with QGIS the shapefile in the following archive http://data.openstreetmapdata.com/coastlines-split-4326.zip and I want to convert this shapefile to a list of latitude and longitude values for every coastline point. To do so, I opened the .shp file with QGIS, then clicked on 'lines' on the layer panel, selected 'Save as…', selected the following options , and clicked on 'OK'.

I obtain a .csv file that looks like this

"WKT,FID,
"LINESTRING (-4.94237 55.725449,-4.941922 55.725585, ... "

May you please confirm that the pairs of numbers (e.g. -4.94237 55.725449) correspond to the GEODETIC latitude of a point and to its longitude (both in degrees), respectively?

Best Answer

Pasting the coordinates in Google Maps does plot a point somewhere in the ocean, and since you are using the coastline shapefile I will assume it's correct. OSM shows this

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[GIS] Correctly Transforming (Unprojecting?) from Lambert Conformal Conic

I believe that the correct string for this projection is:

+proj=lcc +lat_1=37.06666666666667 +lat_2=38.43333333333333 +lat_0=36.5 +lon_0=-120.5 +x_0=2000000 +y_0=500000.0000000002 +ellps=GRS80 +datum=NAD83 +to_meter=0.3048006096012192 +no_defs

See: http://spatialreference.org/ref/esri/102643/

[GIS] How to display coordinates of a point in a projected coordinate system

If I understand well, you have your data in a Coordinate System (from your description, probably geographic one), and you want to see\capture coordinates in a different system.

In QGIS you can do the following:

Option 1 -Set you Project to the desired coordinate system

Make sure you set the correct CRS for your layers using right-click over the layer name > Set Layer CRS;
Go to Project > Project Properties > CRS;
Turn on the fly projection, and choose the desired coordinate system, in your case NAD 83 (but I think you need to be more specific about it);

Now when you move your mouse over the map canvas you will see the coordinates in the desired system.

Option 2 - Use the Coordinate Capture plugin

Make sure you set the correct CRS for your layers using right-click over the layer name > Set Layer CRS;
Right-click over an empty space in a toolbar and select the Coordinate Capture tool;
In the tool dialog, Click on the sphere icon to set the CRS that you want your coordinates to be shown (again NAD83);
Click the mouse icon, to start tracing the mouse movements;
Click on the canvas to stop the mouse tracing and "save" the point coordinates;

If you wish to show your geographic coordinates in Degree, Minutes and Seconds, only the first option will work, and you need to set the desired units in Project > Project properties > General > Canvas units.

Best Answer

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[GIS] Correctly Transforming (Unprojecting?) from Lambert Conformal Conic

[GIS] How to display coordinates of a point in a projected coordinate system

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