The Geodetic Control / Surveying Task Force recommended to the WV GIS Steering Committee that all agencies mapping geographic data within West Virginia utilize one of the following three coordinate systems: Geographic Coordinate System, Universal Transverse Mercator, or State Plane Coordinate System, all referenced to the North American Datum of 1983. Only these coordinate systems and datum will serve as the official data exchange standard for GIS data sets that make up the West Virginia Spatial Data Infrastructure. In August 2002, the new standard was approved by the WV GIS Steering Committee.

• Standards for WV Coordinate Systems (Approved August 2002)
• State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS) for WV Counties (West Virginia State Code)
• Datum Shifts And Digital Map Coordinate Displays (USGS paper, March 2001)
• State Plan Coordinates in Both Meters and Feet

West Virginia Coordinate Systems

Typically three coordinate systems are utilized in West Virginia:

1. Geographic (Latitude/Longitude) for general referencing and data distribution
2. Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) for statewide GIS data sets
3. State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS) for countywide data sets

File name extensions reflect the type of coordinate system.

Coordinate System	Projection	WV Zones	Map Units	File Extensions
Geographic (Latitude/Longitude)	None	None	Decimal Degrees	LL83 (NAD 83) LL27 (NAD27)
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)	Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)	17N and 18N	Meters	UTM83 (NAD83) UTM27 (NAD27)
State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS)	Lambert Conformal Conic	North and South	Feet	SPN83 (North Zone, NAD83) SPS27 (South Zone, NAD27)