Support for MGRS in ArcGIS
The Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) is used widely within the military to define locations on the Earth's surface. Support for MGRS in ArcGIS is provided in three main ways:
- Through the MGRS locator installed in ArcGIS, so any tool or geoprocessing tool that can accept a locator as input can use the MGRS locator
- Through the Units button that exists on various tools, such as the Identify and Go To XY location tools (The Units button controls the units in which the user can enter coordinates; by selecting MGRS units, you can enter coordinates in MGRS.)
- In the data frame units display drop-down list (By selecting MGRS, the coordinates are displayed in MGRS units on the status bar.)
Listed below are the various tools and geoprocessing tools that support MGRS, grouped by functional category.
Map navigation
The following table describes tools that support MGRS and let you move around the map and determine or find locations within the map.
Name | Location |
Function |
---|---|---|
Identify tool |
Tools toolbar |
Identifies the geographic feature or place on which you click |
Find tool |
Tools toolbar |
Finds features in the map |
Go To XY tool |
Tools toolbar |
Allows you to type an x,y location and navigate to it |
Address Input text box | Geocoding toolbar | Allows you to find a location by entering a location in single-line format |
Address Inspector tool | Geocoding toolbar | Displays locations on the map when you click a point location on the map |
Set in data frame properties | Displays coordinates on the ArcMap status bar |
Feature creation
The following table describes ways you can create features using MGRS, either through automated operations (for example, using geoprocessing tools) or by drawing them on a map.
Name | Location |
Function |
---|---|---|
Editing tools |
Advanced/Editing toolbars |
Any editing tool that allows you to choose the units in which coordinates are entered supports MGRS. Examples are the Absolute X,Y and the Construct Geodetic tools. |
Geocode Addresses tool | Geocoding toolbar | Geocodes a table of locations and shows the results on the map. |
Geocoding Tools toolbox | Geocodes a table of locations. | |
Geocoding Tools toolbox | Creates locations from point locations in a feature class. | |
Data Management toolbox | Converts coordinate notation from the input table to a new field in a new point feature class. |