A Guide to Maritime Canada Coordinate systems in MicroSurvey Products

The majority of projections in use in the Canadian Maritime provinces are available as predefined coordinate systems in all MicroSurvey products.  All the systems mentioned in this article are found in the "Canadian Systems" group when you select a system for your drawing, project or STAR*NET adjustment.

Some of the systems have specific applications in mind.  For example, a system may be created with the assumption that you have constrained your survey to a particular datum (sometimes a historical one.)  Some systems are configured to apply a grid based (GSB) datum shift to your measured values in order to update positions from the ATS77 datum to the CSRS (NAD83) datum.

The table below summarizes these characteristics.  Further below there are explanations on where to find the mapping folder in MicroSurvey Products.

Stereographic Double Systems

System	Projection	Origin	False Northing	False Easting	Survey is assumed to be constrained to datum:	Datum Shift (if any)
PrinceEdwardIsland83	Stereographic Double	47 15 00 N, 63 00 00 W	800,000 m	400,000 m	NAD83
NewBrunswick	Stereographic Double	46 30 00 N, 66 30 00 W	800,000 m	300,000 m	ATS77
NewBrunswick83	Stereographic Double	46 30 00 N, 66 30 00 W	7,500,000 m	2,500,000 m	NAD83

Transverse Mercator Systems

System	Projection	Central Meridian	False Easting	Survey is assumed to be constrained to datum:	Datum Shift (if any)
NovaScotia4	Transverse Mercator	61 30 00 W	4,500,000 m	ATS77
NovaScotia5	Transverse Mercator	64 30 00 W	5,500,000 m	ATS77
Nova Scotia 83-1997 Zn4	Transverse Mercator	61 30 00 W	14,500,000 m	NAD83 (CSRS epoch 1997)
Nova Scotia 83-1997 Zn5	Transverse Mercator	64 30 00 W	15,500,000 m	NAD83 (CSRS epoch 1997)
Nova Scotia 83-2010 Zn4	Transverse Mercator	61 30 00 W	24,500,000 m	NAD83 (CSRS epoch 2010)
Nova Scotia 83-2010 Zn5	Transverse Mercator	64 30 00 W	25,500,000 m	NAD83 (CSRS epoch 2010)
Nova Scotia ATS77 Zn4 (NAD83(CSRS)1997)	Transverse Mercator	61 30 00 W	4,500,000 m	ATS77	\mapping\NS778301.gsbwill shift position to CSRS epoch 1997
Nova Scotia ATS77 Zn5 (NAD83(CSRS)1997)	Transverse Mercator	64 30 00 W	5,500,000 m	ATS77	\mapping\NS778301.gsbwill shift position to CSRS epoch 1997
Nova Scotia ATS77 Zn4 (NAD83(CSRS)2010)	Transverse Mercator	61 30 00 W	4,500,000 m	ATS77	Mapping\NS778302.gsbwill shift position to CSRS epoch 2010
Nova Scotia ATS77 Zn5 (NAD83(CSRS)2010)	Transverse Mercator	64 30 00 W	5,500,000 m	ATS77	Mapping\NS778302.gsbwill shift position to CSRS epoch 2010
New Brunswick ATS77.UTM-19N(NAD83(CSRS)2010	Universal Transverse Mercator	69 00 00 W	500,000 m	ATS77	\mapping\Canada\CSRS\NB7783v2.GSB
New Brunswick ATS77.UTM-20N(NAD83(CSRS)2010	Universal Transverse Mercator	63 00 00 W	500,000 m	ATS77	\mapping\Canada\CSRS\NB7783v2.GSB

Obtaining Gridshift Files:

For all provinces it is recommended that users create a free account at the NRCAN Coordinate Transformations page and download the latest version of the gridshift file you require.

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Instructions for Implementing Gridshifts Files:

Gridshifts for these coordinate systems (when required) are distributed by provincial authorities in files with the extension *.dat or *.gsb, they cannot be installed with your MicroSurvey software.  These files can be updated at times, and it is best practise to use the newest available gridshift for your region.  MicroSurvey Mapping files must be modified so that gridshift files will be applied:

Downloading and Configuring Required Gridshifts:

1. Download the CANADA_USA mapping files, unzip, and copy to the mapping folder for your product. FieldGenius for Android has a built in Gridshift Library feature to perform this step.  This folder contains 2022 versions of all gridshifts mentioned in this article.
2. For all provinces it is recommended that users create a free account at the NRCAN Coordinate Transformations page and download the latest version of the gridshift file you require'  The package downloaded in Step 1 is preconfigured, but not always fully up to date.
3. Verify that the *.GSB file provided by the authority is copied to the mapping folder for your product.
4. If you have downloaded a newer *.GSB file, ensure that the gridshift file is named so it matches the name shown in the "Datum Shift (if any)" column of the table above. The renaming is necessary, even if the file you have received from the provincial authority has a different name.

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Mapping folder locations:

The list below guides you to where to find the mapping folder for all MicroSurvey Products:

MicroSurvey CAD

C:\ProgramData\MicroSurvey\MSCAD\20XX\mscad\Mapping

embeddedCAD

C:\ProgramData\MicroSurvey\embeddedCAD 20XX\mscad\Mapping

inCAD

C:\ProgramData\MicroSurvey\inCAD\20XX\mscad\Mapping

STAR*NET

C:\ProgramData\MicroSurvey\StarNet\VXX\Mapping

FieldGenius for Windows:

C:\ProgramData\MicroSurvey\FieldGenius\XX\Mapping

FieldGenius for Android:

<Internal Storage> FieldGenius\Mapping

**NOTE that most gridshifts are implemented automatically in FieldGenius for Android.  Gridshifts and required support files are downloaded from the Gridshift Catalog.  Maritime Gridshift files are included in the mapping package available for downloading, but their accuracy should be verified before use.

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You can test your results by:

MSCAD, embeddedCAD and inCAD:

Open a new drawing and assign the distance units you normally use for testing or work

Open "Manual Coordinate Conversions" in the Geodetic group of the MsPoints menu and convert a known point between:

Latitude/Longitude - LL84 (same as WGS84)

...and the coordinate system you are testing

FieldGenius Windows or Android:

Create a new project and assign the distance units you normally use for testing or work

Open Coordinate Calculator in the Calculations section of the software and convert a known point between:

Latitude/Longitude - LL84 (same as WGS84)

and the coordinate system you are testing

STAR*NET:

Create a new project and assign the distance units you normally use for testing or work

Assign the coordinate system you need to test as a Grid system

Select the "Select Ellipsoid to use" option WGS84 (this will cause the gridshift to be applied)

Enter a known WGS84 lat/long in the format:

P PTID DD.MMSSss DD.MMSSss ellipsoidelev !!!

Adjust

A warning will alert you there are no observation, this can be disregarded

View the Coordinates output panel and compare it against known values