crstools

In crstools: Tools to Work with Projections

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crstools is a collection of tools to facilitate the choice of a Coordinate Reference System (CRS) in R. CRSs are essential for mapping, as they define how geographic data are projected onto a flat surface. The choice of CRS depends on the type of map, the extent of the map, and the purpose of the map. The crstools package provides 3 main functionalities:

1) suggest_crs provides suggestions for CRS for different types of maps, such as equal-area maps, conformal maps, and equidistant maps, depending on the extent and location of the area of interest.

2) geom_tissot visualises the distortion associated with a given crs, by adding Tissot indicatrix to a ggplot2 map (the distortion of circles on the map).

3) add_crs helps to add CRS to an image; it does so by defining Ground Control Points (GCPs) and using GDAL to warp the image to a desired CRS.

Installation

Currently, crstools is only available on GitHub. You can install it using the devtools package:

devtools::install_github("EvolEcolGroup/crstools")

An overview of CRS codes

Coordinate Reference System (CRS) codes are standardized identifiers used to define spatial reference systems, ensuring accurate geospatial data representation. One common way to describe a CRS is using Well-Known Text (WKT), a human-readable format that specifies key parameters such as the datum, projection, and coordinate units. Another widely used system is the EPSG code, which is a numeric identifier assigned by the European Petroleum Survey Group (EPSG) for commonly used CRS definitions, such as EPSG:4326 for WGS 84. Additionally, Proj4 is a text-based format used by the PROJ library, which provides concise parameter strings for defining projections, transformations, and datums, making it particularly useful in GIS software and programming environments. These different formats help ensure interoperability between geospatial tools and datasets.

Let's take the Web Mercator projection, commonly used in web mapping applications like Google Maps and OpenStreetMap. Below are its representations in WKT, EPSG, and Proj4 formats:

1. EPSG Code

2. EPSG:3857 (also called "Pseudo-Mercator" or "Web Mercator")

3. Well-Known Text (WKT)
   wkt PROJCS["WGS 84 / Pseudo-Mercator", GEOGCS["WGS 84", DATUM["WGS_1984", SPHEROID["WGS 84",6378137,298.257223563, AUTHORITY["EPSG","7030"]], AUTHORITY["EPSG","6326"]], PRIMEM["Greenwich",0, AUTHORITY["EPSG","8901"]], UNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433, AUTHORITY["EPSG","9122"]], AUTHORITY["EPSG","4326"]], PROJECTION["Mercator_1SP"], PARAMETER["central_meridian",0], PARAMETER["scale_factor",1], PARAMETER["false_easting",0], PARAMETER["false_northing",0], UNIT["metre",1, AUTHORITY["EPSG","9001"]], AXIS["X",EAST], AXIS["Y",NORTH], AUTHORITY["EPSG","3857"]]

4. Proj4 String
   +proj=merc +a=6378137 +b=6378137 +lat_ts=0 +lon_0=0 +x_0=0 +y_0=0 +k=1 +units=m +nadgrids=@null +wktext +no_defs

Each of these formats represents the same Web Mercator projection, allowing different GIS tools and libraries to interpret and use the coordinate system consistently.

In general, WKT is the most complete and flexible format, representing any possible CRS; EPSG codes are standardized and widely recognized, but only cover a limited number of possibilities; and Proj4 string are concise and easy to use in programming environments, but may not cover all possible options. Since in crstools we attempt to provide a wide range of CRS options, we use the WKT and Proj4 format for the CRS suggestions.

Spatial objects in R

In R, the sf (Simple Features) package is widely used for handling vector geographic data, such as points, lines, and polygons. It provides an efficient and standardized way to work with spatial data using the simple features model, allowing seamless integration with the tidyverse and modern spatial workflows. The sf package supports various spatial operations, including transformations, intersections, and aggregations, while also providing compatibility with the system libraries GDAL, PROJ, and GEOS for advanced spatial analysis. For raster data, the terra package is the preferred choice, offering a powerful and efficient framework for handling large raster datasets. terra is designed to replace the older raster package, providing better performance and memory management for processing multi-layer rasters, reprojecting, cropping, and performing raster algebra. Together, sf and terra enable a comprehensive geospatial analysis workflow in R, ensuring smooth interoperability between vector and raster data.

sf and terra each have their own functions to query and set CRS: sf::st_crs() and terra::crs(), respectively. These functions allow you to access and modify the CRS of spatial objects, ensuring that your data is correctly projected and aligned for spatial analysis. To avoid confusion between the two packages, in this vignette we will use the convention of giving the package name before the function name, such as sf::st_crs() and terra::crs().

Note that vector data can also be represented in terra with the SpatVector class, and raster data can be represented in sf with the stars class (via the stars package). These two options are less used, but they can each be queried by terra::crs() and sf::st_crs() depending on the package they belong to; crstools can handle these objects as well.

Choosing a CRS

The suggest_crs() function provides suggestions for CRS for different types of maps. The function takes the extent of the map and the type of distortion as inputs and returns a CRS (or a list of CRSs if more than one option is available). There are 3 types of distortion: equal area, conformal, and equidistant. As suggested by the name, equal-area maps preserve the area of features, conformal maps preserve angles, and equidistant maps preserve distances. A fourth option, compromise, is also available, which tries to balance the trade-offs between the other three types of distortion.

The choice of CRS depends on the extent of the map. Let us use South America as an example. We will use rnaturalearth to get a map of that continent, as an sf object (sf is generally used for ):

library(rnaturalearth)
library(sf)
s_america_sf <- ne_countries(continent = "South America", returnclass = "sf")

We use ggplot2 to visualise it:

library(ggplot2)
ggplot() +
  geom_sf(data = s_america_sf) +
  theme_minimal()

Let us check the CRS for this object:

sf::st_crs(s_america_sf)

Note that, by default, sf gives us the CRS in WKT format. At the very bottom, you can see that, as this is a standard CRS, the EPSG code is also given. If we want to see the Proj4 code, we can use the sf::st_crs() and extract the $proj4string slot:

sf::st_crs(s_america_sf)$proj4string

Now, let's use suggest_crs() to get a suggestion for an equal-area CRS for this map:

library(crstools)
s_am_equal_area <- suggest_crs(s_america_sf, distortion = "equal_area")

The function returns a list with two elements: proj4 and wkt. Let's see:

s_am_equal_area

We can now use this CRS to reproject the map. We can quickly inspect the projection by plotting the map with the new CRS:

ggplot() +
  geom_sf(data = s_america_sf) +
  coord_sf(crs = s_am_equal_area$proj4) +
  theme_minimal()

The Tissot indicatrix is a mathematical contrivance used in cartography to characterize local distortions due to map projection. The geom_tissot() function adds Tissot's indicatrix to a map, showing how circles are distorted by the projection. Let's use it to add Tissot's indicatrix to the map of South America with the equal-area projection:

ggplot(data = s_america_sf) +
  geom_sf() +
  geom_tissot() +
  coord_sf(crs = s_am_equal_area$proj4) +
  theme_minimal()

Let us compare this to a simple Mercator projection:

ggplot(data = s_america_sf) +
  geom_sf() +
  geom_tissot() +
  coord_sf(crs = "+proj=merc") +
  theme_minimal()

We can see how the area of the circles is distorted in the Mercator projection as we move further away from the equator, while the equidistant projection preserves the area of the circles better.

We could use the CRS to also project the sf object, and check that the new CRS was indeed adopted:

s_america_sf_equal_area <- sf::st_transform(s_america_sf, s_am_equal_area$proj4)
sf::st_crs(s_america_sf_equal_area)$proj4string

Now we can plot it, and the new CRS will be used automatically:

ggplot() +
  geom_sf(data = s_america_sf_equal_area) +
  theme_minimal()

We can do the same with a raster object. We'll use a raster from the package pastclim, which allows the easy retrieval of climate data. First, ensure pastclim is installed and the data_path is set, using set_data_path().

Let's get the annual mean temperature (variable "bio01") for Europe:

library(terra)
library(pastclim)

# get example dataset from cran
set_data_path(on_CRAN = TRUE)

europe_r <- region_slice(
  time_bp = 0,
  bio_variables = c("bio01"),
  dataset = "Example",
  ext = region_extent$Europe
)

A quick summary of the object gives the CRS, as "coord. ref.":

europe_r

We can inspect in more detail the CRS for a terra object with:

terra::crs(europe_r)

which gives a WKT.

We can ask for the "Proj4" string with:

terra::crs(europe_r, proj = TRUE)

There is also a parameter "describe" which returns the EPSG code.

Let's plot it with ggplot2, using tidyterra to visualise the raster:

library(tidyterra)
ggplot() +
  geom_spatraster(data = europe_r) +
  scale_fill_viridis_c(na.value = "transparent") +
  theme_minimal()

We can now ask for a suggestion for an equal-area projection for this raster:

europe_r_equal_area <- suggest_crs(europe_r, distortion = "equal_area")
europe_r_equal_area

Let's use it:

ggplot() +
  geom_spatraster(data = europe_r) +
  scale_fill_viridis_c(na.value = "transparent") +
  coord_sf(crs = europe_r_equal_area$proj4) +
  theme_minimal()

Let us use the Tissot indicatrix to assess how effective the equal area projection is:

ggplot() +
  geom_spatraster(data = europe_r) +
  scale_fill_viridis_c(na.value = "transparent") +
  geom_tissot(data = europe_r) +
  coord_sf(crs = europe_r_equal_area$proj4) +
  theme_minimal()

Comparing it to the Mercator projection:

ggplot() +
  geom_spatraster(data = europe_r) +
  scale_fill_viridis_c(na.value = "transparent") +
  geom_tissot(data = europe_r) +
  coord_sf(crs = "+proj=merc") +
  theme_minimal()

We can also use the CRS to reproject the raster, and check that it has been applied correctly:

europe_r_equal_area <- terra::project(europe_r, europe_r_equal_area$proj4)
terra::crs(europe_r_equal_area, proj = TRUE)

If we now plot the raster, the CRS is automatically added:

ggplot() +
  geom_spatraster(data = europe_r_equal_area) +
  scale_fill_viridis_c(na.value = "transparent") +
  theme_minimal()

crstools documentation built on March 19, 2026, 5:08 p.m.