Stevens County MN, Geolocation Image Issue

[hippe013]

I have a drawing with the Stevens County, MN coordinate system setup. When I turn on the Geolocation Image (Bing) it does not encompass the correct county. The coordinate system parameters are correct per published coordinate system parameters. The shape files I imported (with mapimport) appear to fall into the correct location. When I use a WMS service the image falls into the correct place. It is just the Geolocation Image is the issue. The image appears to fall into the correct position but does not encompass the right county. See my attached dwg. Stevens County is in Blue, with surrounding counties for reference. I am experiencing this issue in both Civil 3D 2019 & 2023. Any help is greatly appreciated. 

[ChrisRS]

I can't help but feel compelled to reply.

Chris Stevens

[MSchille-1994]

Try this drawing?  If it is correct, I believe that the orientation marker was incorrect?

[Pointdump]

Hi Ben,
Yup, something doesn't look quite right.
Dave

[hippe013]

No, the drawing you posted has the same issue. See the screen shot that @Pointdump posted. It shows the aerial image extents not around Stevens County. The image itself is in the right location as the county to the east is Pope County and the image appears correct over that county, but the extents of the image does not carry into and encompass Stevens County. 

[Pointdump · Accepted solution]

Ben,
I looked at the coordinate system definition >>>Here<<< which agrees with >>>ESRI:103783<<<. There are 2 problems with the MAPCSLIBRARY definition. First one is easy to fix. Duplicate the StevensMN-F Coordinate System and edit the extents. Attached, please find my drawing with the new "StevensMN-F_Shift" Coordinate System. (Click OK to add the definition to your MAPCSLIBRARY.)

The second problem is that Minnesota uses a different size Ellipsoid than NAD83:
Semi-major Axis (meters): 6378502.761
Semi-minor Axis (meters): 6357116.84

About that I don't know what to do other than create a new Datum and Ellipsoid definition.
Dave

[MSchille-1994]

Try this one.

[hippe013]

@Pointdump Thank you. I had missed the useful extents. I wonder if Civil 3d is computing this is the background or if it assigned somewhere in a file. Would be nice to get them all corrected. (And include other Minnesota Coordinate Systems that aren't included with the install, but that is for another thread.)

The second problem is that Minnesota uses a different size Ellipsoid than NAD83:
Semi-major Axis (meters): 6378502.761
Semi-minor Axis (meters): 6357116.84

---

It is my understanding that each county in Minnesota uses its own ellipsoid. The ellipsoids are "puffed" up to eliminate any conversion from Grid to Ground. They are essentially equal so that grid measures correctly on the ground. Convenient for survey work. 

I wish Autodesk would put to bed the coordinate systems issues as they relate to Minnesota as this is one of several coordinate system issues in Civil 3d for Minnesota County Coordinate Systems.

***Insert tag to Autodesk Developers***

I appreciate your help on this Dave.

[Pointdump · Accepted solution]

Ben,
I had some time this morning to completely fix the Autodesk definition of the Stevens County Coordinate System. Attached, please find Stevens County_Adj.dwg with these new definitions which should tag along:
NAD83_HARN/MN_Stevens (Datum)
GRS_1980_Adj_MN_Stevens (Ellipsoid)
HARN/MN_Stevens_to_WGS84 (Geodetic Transformation)
NAD83_HARN_Adj_Stevens (PROJCS)
Check them out in MAPCSLIBRARY.
Dave

[jrod_stat]

I am having the same issues for Stearns County, MN. @Pointdump is there any chance you could provide instructions on how you accomplished this? Or if you've already provided instructions, point me to where they're located?

[Pointdump]

Hi @jrod_stat,
Welcome to the Autodesk Forums.
I just checked MAPCSLIBRARY in Civil 3D 2025 and Stearns County, Minnesota is included.
Dave

Edit: Looks like Autodesk didn't get Stearns County extents right. Sigh.