weeklyOSM 812
05/02/2026-11/02/2026
Mapping
User AndreaDp271 is seeking comments on their proposal of a tagging scheme for civil protection areas used in case of large scale emergencies. Please review the proposal and share your feedback to help refine the technical details and address any potential issues.
Voting on the tagging scheme for advisory access restriction signage on destination signs proposal is open until Saturday 21 February.
Mapping campaigns
- Henry Wilkinson has mapped the Dundas West Station in Toronto, Canada, using the LiDAR sensor on an iPhone 17 Pro, in combination with the Niantic Scaniverse app, to capture 3D data. He then reconstructed the digital 3D scene with Meshroom and Blender before uploading the results to OpenStreetMap through JOSM (using the PicLayer plugin) to align imagery, and iD for streamlined indoor tagging. The completed work enabled detailed indoor mapping of the station, now viewable on OpenLevelUp.
Community
darkonus wrote in their diary about elliptical toponyms (geographical names in which generic terms disappear over time) and explained why it is important for OpenStreetMap mappers to verify the full forms of names. The author examined various cases and focused on Ukrainian microtoponyms, emphasising that abbreviations in sources or in speech do not always indicate a change in the proper name.
Bart Louwers and others have released the January 2026 edition of the MapLibre Newsletter.
Matt Whilden has made an Ultra query to create a map that renders the
nicknametag of places in OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMap Foundation
Paul Norman reported that the OpenStreetMap Operations Team has recently made several improvements to the tile.openstreetmap.org raster map tile service.
Minh Nguyễn reported that the OSM Wiki has just switched the CAPTCHA used in the account creation process from hCaptcha to Cloudflare Turnstile, aiming to improve protection against bots.
Local chapter news
Oliver Rudzick announced ► that FOSSGIS e.V. will once again host the FOSSGIS–OSM Community Meeting at the Linuxhotel in Essen. The event is scheduled for the extended first May weekend, from Thursday 30 April to Sunday 3 May. Additional details are available on the event’s Wiki page.
OpenStreetMap United States 2026 board candidate nominations closed on 8 February 2026. There are five candidates and you can read their position statements on the Wiki.
Events
The FOSS4G 2026 organising team announced that the Call for Proposals (closing 16 March) and Travel Grant Programme (closing 28 February) are now open for the global conference to be held in Hiroshima, Japan (30 August to 5 September 2026).
Developers are invited to register for a free GeoSolutions instructional webinar on the Geonode 5.0 open-source software, a web-based application and platform for developing geospatial information systems and for deploying spatial data infrastructures. The webinar will be held on Tuesday 24 February at 4 pm GMT.
Recordings of the State of the Map CZ/SK 2025 sessions are available on its Peertube channel. The details can be found ► in the event’s schedule.
The State of the Map US call for proposals closes on 16 February. OpenStreetMap US invites you to share your presentation ideas. Looking for inspiration? Check out the recorded talks from previous conferences. They also have Mapping USA recordings available.
OSM in action
- Christoph Langner, of Linux und ich, showcased ► Chainlaine, a Brouter-powered bike navigation app on Android.
Software
[1] Martijn van Exel has developed the osm-mapper-globe, a visualisation dashboard that enables users to watch OpenStreetMap edits in real time on an interactive globe. The code is available on Codeberg under an ISC licence.
Stefan blogged about GraphHopper’s route optimisation API and ‘stop timing’, a new feature accounting for location overhead (the time spent at a stop on a delivery route).
Programming
- Martijn van Exel has developed cosmo, a command-line tool for filtering and converting OSM PBF data into GeoJSON or Parquet formats.
Releases
The CoMaps team released version 2026.02.09 featuring OSM data from 7 February and automatic updates of the
check_datetag when adding/editing POI. Furthermore, the search now supports Scandinavian letters (æøå), on Android you can now disable the speed limit display during car navigation, and on iOS in the EU you can now set CoMaps as your default map app.Sarah Hoffmann (aka lonvia) announced enthusiastically that Photon 1.0.0 was released with a lot of improvements in its search engine. She also thanked GraphHopper, Komoot, and Entur for their continued support of Photon development, which has made this release possible.
Did you know that …
… the Academic Computer Club, at Umeå University, and the Oregon State University Open Source Lab contribute to OpenStreetMap by hosting tile render servers? If you also want to help OpenStreetMap run a tile server in your region, check this guide.
… according to OpenStreetMap’s tile usage policy, it is recommended to include a ‘Report a map issue’ link, so your app users can help improve the data?
… Séverin Ménard (Les Libres Géographes) gave a keynote titled Le numérique, vecteur d’une appropriation collective des données environnementales? It was part of the Cycle Annuel 2025, helded by the Institut des hautes études d’aménagement des territoires. He showed the application of open and collaborative data and detailed the mapping carried out in Mayotte. The explanation of this mapping effort was published in the weeklyOSM issues 770 and 775.
… the General Bikeshare Feed Specification (GBFS) has used the OpenStreetMap
opening_hoursformat since version 3.0? GBFS is an open data standard designed to make it easier to discover and use shared mobility services.… the statistics of uMap instances are also published as a chart?
OSM in the media
- Historian Arseniy Chuhuy outlined how place names in Crimea changed during the imperial and Soviet periods and described efforts to restore historical, especially Crimean Tatar, toponyms. He also noted practical issues in the process, including duplicate names and settlements without clearly documented historical alternatives. The article is illustrated with a map by Ukrainian OpenStreetMap contributor and cartographic designer Fedir Gontsa.
Other “geo” things
The Editora IVIDES is accepting ► applications for the selection process to form the scientific committee for volumes 2 and 3 of the series Case studies in collaborative and participatory mapping (in Portuguese). Raquel Dezidério Souto, editor of the series, reported ► in her OSM user diary that the first volume was released in August 2025 and has already been downloaded by over a thousand people.
The Government of Portugal has published ► a list of municipalities affected by Storm Kristin that are now under a state of public calamity. A humanitarian mapping effort is emerging, and you can learn more about this and other topics by following the Portuguese OpenStreetMap community group on Telegram and Discord.
The UCL Warning Research Centre invites you to their free and hybrid launch of the UCL Warning Database, which will occur on 4 March, from 3 pm to 4 pm GMT, at Room 225, Central House, Bloomsbury.
Miguel Alvarez has taken a look at the maps of Leonardo da Vinci. Further detail of Leonardo’s mapping career can be found in Christopher Tyler’s 2017 article.
Will Dunham wrote in The Japan Times about radar data which shows a cavernous underground lava tube on Venus. Lava tubes are also found in certain volcanic locations on Earth and its moon and are believed to be present on Mars.
Melinda Laituri, of Colorado State University, discussed women’s contributions to cartography. We previously reported ► that Daniel Meßner had highlighted the American geologist and cartographer Marie Tharp and her contribution to the cartographic depiction of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Upcoming Events
| Country | Where | Venue | What | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Delhi | Dosa Coffee, Model Town | ILUGD Meetup × OSM Delhi Mapping Party No.26 (North Zone)  | 2026-02-15 |
 | Lancaster | Lancaster University Welcome center 1 | Lancaster FoMSF Mapathon | 2026-02-16 |
 | EPN d’Arlon, rue de Diekirch 37, Arlon | EPN d’Arlon - OpenStreetMap - Contribution | 2026-02-17 | |
 | Milano | Building 3A Ground Floor - Politecnico di Milano | PoliMappers Maptedì | 2026-02-17 |
| Missing Maps London: (Online) Mid-Month Mapathon [eng] | 2026-02-17 | |||
 | Online | Mappy Hour OSM España | 2026-02-17 | |
 | Lyon | Tubà | Réunion du groupe local de Lyon | 2026-02-17 |
 | Bonn | Dotty’s | 197. OSM-Stammtisch Bonn | 2026-02-17 |
 | San Jose | Online | South Bay Map Night | 2026-02-17 |
| Online | Lüneburger Mappertreffen (online) | 2026-02-17 | |
| MJC de Vienne | Réunion des contributeurs de Vienne (38) | 2026-02-18 | |
| Karlsruhe | Chiang Mai | Stammtisch Karlsruhe | 2026-02-18 |
 | Bratislava | Prírodovedecká fakulta UK Bratislava | Missing Maps mapathon Bratislava #12 | 2026-02-19 |
| OSMF Engineering Working Group meeting | 2026-02-20 | |||
| Karlsruhe | Geofabrik, Amalienstraße 44, 76133 Karlsruhe | Karlsruhe Hack Weekend February 2026 | 2026-02-21 - 2026-02-22 |
| Belfast | School of Geosciences, Queen’s University Belfast | Belfast Mapathon | 2026-02-21 |
 | TAK Kadıköy Tasarım Atölyesi | OpenStreetMap Outdoor Editing | 2026-02-21 | |
| Kalyani Nagar | TomTom Pune Office, India | OSM Mapping Party at TomTom Pune, India | 2026-02-21 |
| Atelier Vélo Utile | Rencontre OSM Saint-Brieuc | 2026-02-21 | |
| Toulouse | Artilect - 10, Rue Tripière - Toulouse | Rencontre OSM Toulouse | 2026-02-21 |
| Mumbai | Third Wave Coffee Roasters, Lokhandwala Market | OSM Mumbai Mapping Party No.7 (Western Line - South) | 2026-02-22 |
| Missing Maps : Mapathon en ligne - CartONG [fr] | 2026-02-23 | |||
 | Olomouc | Přírodovědecká fakulta Univerzity Palackého | Únorový olomoucký mapathon | 2026-02-24 |
| City of Edinburgh | Guildford Arms, Edinburgh | OSM Edinburgh pub meetup | 2026-02-24 |
| Derby | The Brunswick, Railway Terrace, Derby | East Midlands pub meet-up | 2026-02-24 |
| Hannover | Kuriosum | OSM-Stammtisch Hannover | 2026-02-25 |
 | Luxembourg | neimënster, Luxembourg & online | MSF Luxembourg hybrid Mapathon | 2026-02-25 |
| Düsseldorf | Online bei https://meet.jit.si/OSM-DUS-2026 | Düsseldorfer OpenStreetMap-Treffen (online) | 2026-02-25 |
| Seattle | Seattle, WA, US | OpenThePaths 2026: Connecting People and Places Through Sustainable Access | 2026-02-26 - 2026-02-27 |
| Santa Clara | Santa Clara University | Friends of MSF Mapathon | 2026-02-26 |
| Online | Asamblea General Ordinaria - Asociación OpenStreetMap España | 2026-02-26 | |
| Ferrara | Cimitero monumentale della Certosa di Ferrara | Ferrara mapping party | 2026-02-28 |
| Messina | Messina | Mapping Day @ Messina | 2026-02-28 |
| नई दिल्ली | Jitsi Meet (online) | OSM India - Monthly Online Mapathon | 2026-03-01 |
| Chennai Corporation | Mapping Party @ Chennai | 2026-03-01 |
This weeklyOSM was produced by IVIDES.org, MatthiasMatthias, Raquel IVIDES DATA, Strubbl, Andrew Davidson, barefootstache, darkonus, derFred, giopera, jcr83.
We welcome link suggestions for the next issue via this form and look forward to your contributions.
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