09/02/2021-15/02/2021
Saturday 2021-02-20 99,615,975 changesets – waiting for 100,000,000 this week 1 | © OSM in Realtime by James Westman | map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
About us
- We already reported on the imminent approach of changeset 100,000,000 on OpenStreetMap, currently expected to occur on 26 February. You can monitor progress with this tool by James Westman and compare against our projection. We will contact the lucky user who uploads this changeset via OSM messaging with a contact address and they have until 1 March to reply. If they would like to participate in a short interview (10 questions), the editors would include this in weeklyOSM #554. In any case, they may receive a prize (no guarantees):The prize: in cooperation with GEOFABRIK a folded print of the OSM in standard Carto style, of a preferably small section, chosen by the winner, on 130 gsm paper in ‘Super A0’ format with 15035 x10559 pixels, approximately 1.20 x 0.91 m in size. The map will be sent free of charge. We ask for your understanding that we will limit the shipping costs to maximum of €25. The map can also be sent rolled up. An example of what the map cut-out would look like. We will clarify details with the winner. We wish dedicated mappers every success.
Mapping campaigns
- Said Turksever tweeted about the completion of a MapRoulette campaign to ensure all the ‘unmapped places‘ in Turkey have their roads mapped (as we reported earlier).
Mapping
- Florian Lohoff pointed to
> , on the German Forum, a MapRoulette task which is resulting in airport features mapped as areas (runways, taxiways and aprons) being retagged from aerowaytoarea:aeroway. This has the effect of the element disappearing from many map renders. - User Clay_c wrote about the dilemma as to whether underground railway stations are buildings or not. There’s a lot more in the diary post about which tags mappers have used elsewhere, demonstration of indoor tags, and some neat diagrams.
- The ride-share company Lyft blogged about what they see as the benefits of using OpenStreetMap.
- Martijn van Exel gave a video tutorial on a fun and effective method to systematically fix up old TIGER import roads in the USA.
- User mahdi1234 published a short article on how to use Git(Hub) as a way to cache Overpass queries in order to serve data to uMap.
- Requests have been made for comments on the following proposals:
cycleway:doorzone=*for indicating that a stretch of cycling infrastructure exposes a cyclist to the risk of dooring (colliding with a motor vehicle’s open door).post_partner=*to tag the availability of postal services in places other than post offices.type=traffic_signals_seta new relation type to group together traffic signal devices corresponding to a single intersection.emergency=lifeguardformalising the use of the existing tag for the permanent, or semi-permanent, location where a lifeguard will be while on duty. Also proposed is a number of values for the keylifeguard=*to further describe where a lifeguard may be found.
- Voting is underway for the following proposals:
historic=ogham_stonea second vote on a method of tagging a stone that has Ogham script on it (till Sunday 28 February).basin=evaporationfor mapping a basin used to evaporate water (till Tuesday 2 March).boundary=forestry, which aims to standardise the mapping of forest management (forestry) areas (till Tuesday 2 March).
- Voting has ended for the following proposals:
man_made=tailings_pondwas approved with 32 votes for, 0 votes against, and 0 abstentions.traffic_calming=mini_bumpswas approved with 37 votes for, 0 votes against, and 0 abstentions.
> 
Community
- The 2021 board elections for OpenStreetMap US resulted in four members of the board remaining in place. The new member is Diane Fritz, who succeeds Alyssa Wright, a long-time board member who retired from the role this year.
- OSMF board member Rory McCann summarised their OSM-related activities for December.
- Hackernews discussed James Westman’s OSM in real-time site. The weeklyOSM editors particularly liked this comment.
- YouthMappers marked Women in Science day with a blog post on its importance.
Imports
- Sergio Quintero started a thread on the imports mailing list about a Spanish mountain ranges import. This sparked a debate on the verifiability of OSM features. The import is dependent on the decision of the Spanish community, which is still pending. More information about the source of the data can be found on the wiki.
OpenStreetMap Foundation
- Allan Mustard, chairperson of the OSMF Board, sent out a reminder about the OSM 2021 Community Survey, which closed on 14 February, and an initial report of the results. Result processing is ongoing; further results will be available on the survey’s dedicated page.
- Mikel Maron issued an apology, on behalf of the OSMF Board, for overlooking a number of conflicts of interest in the awarding of microgrants in 2020. Both Mikel and Joost Schouppe were closely associated with successful grantees.
Local chapter news
- Since April 2019, Healthsites.io, in partnership with Cartong, Géomatica, and the OpenStreetMap Senegal community, have launched a series of activities to map health facilities in Senegal. This blog post presents the mapping activities in Senegal and results.
presents the mapping activities in Senegal and results.
Humanitarian OSM
- The Community Working Group of HOT is organising a webinar ‘Colonialism in Open Data and Mapping’, which will be held on Friday 26 February. Topics and discussion points include the balance of community vs. digital information, decolonisation of open data and open mapping, and representation and power in humanitarian mapping.
- Pete Masters, user pedrito1414, reported on HOT’s five-year project in Tanzania.
- Following on from her last diary (as we reported), RebeccaF shared more of her thinking around the principles and purpose underlying the new regional hub structure HOT is setting up, and continues the dialogue and evolution.
Software
- OSM Inspector by Geofabrik, which has had a view for Public Transport routes (version 2 tagging) for some time, now supports new validation rules for stop positions. It now checks whether the stop position is on the route and whether the stop positions of a route are ordered correctly.
- Pieter Fiers (user ubipo) has taken the OSMfocus app and re-released it as OSMfocus Reborn, both on Google Play and F-Droid. OSMfocus Reborn displays details from the OSM database for nearby objects so that they can be compared with observations made on site.
Programming
- The deadline for organisation applications for Google Summer of Code is nearly upon us. Sarah Hoffman (user lonvia) asked, in the dev mailing list, for project ideas to be added to the wiki. OpenStreetMap has participated in the Summer of Code since 2008, although indirectly in 2013 and 2014 via OSGeo.
- Tor Hovland has started a series of blog posts on the process of developing a web app for editing OpenStreetMap data using the Rust language.
Did you know …
- … geocode.xyz, from Ervin Ruci, will allow batch geocoding with a free rate-limited tier?
- … the key
traffic_calming=*? On the wiki you can find all the variants illustrated with photos. - … Peakfinder will generate a digital 360 degree panorama, based on SRTM data, from many places in the world? The names of mountain peaks are mainly sourced from OpenStreetMap. Compare, for instance, this photographic panorama from the summit of Monte Tamaro, Ticino, Switzerland with the generated one.
- … that one cannot always trust the competence of those who install traffic signage? This is particularly true when the installers do not speak one of the languages on the sign.
- … that there is a thread > , on the German forum, with regular updates on Walter Nordmann’s software watchlist? You can also use the thread to suggest other software that should be included on the list.
- … OpenStreetMap Help is a question and answer forum in the style of StackExchange?
OSM in the media
- The internet newspaper Regiotrends reported >
on new maps of the Strasbourg-Ortenau cross-border region produced by the KartoDistrict >
project. - Mark Altaweel wrote about the ‘bystander effect’ on sites using volunteered geographical information (VGI) such as Waze and OpenStreetMap. The article is based on an academic paper by researchers from Michigan. This effect occurs when people are aware that others are already contributing, and therefore are less likely to contribute themselves. The work suggests that the use of targeted interventions might alleviate the problem.
Other “geo” things
- Paul Digney, president of SSSI (the Australian professional surveyors’ organisation) reflected on the events of the last year in the Australian geospatial world. Highlights included the two mapathons that SSSI ran after the 2020 Australian bushfires, the first to map burnt infrastructure in seven different project areas affected by the fires, and a second that concentrated on mapping for bushfire preparedness (we reported earlier).
- Molly Burhans, a cartographer, environmentalist, and Catholic, is working to persuade the Catholic Church to map its holdings to enable better management in the light of climate change.
Upcoming Events
| Where | What | Online | When | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
YouthMappers + MapBeks: OSM Workshop and Mapathon  | 2021-02-20 | |||
| Department of Geography Brown Bag/PGS Lecture: Participatory Mapping of LGBT Experiences and Safe Spaces | 2021-02-20 | |||
| Missing Maps American Red Cross Aviano AB Airmen & Soldiers Mapathon | 2021-02-21 | |||
| OpenStreetMap Hungary Workshop: Buszútvonalak hozzáadása szakszerűen / Adding bus routes, OSMF stats | 2021-02-22 | |||
| 2021-02-22 | |||
| Missing Maps CartONG Mapathon | 2021-02-22 | |||
| Bremen | Bremer Mappertreffen (Online) | 2021-02-22 |  | |
| Disastermappers Heidelberg: Access to Healthcare Infrastructure Mapathon | 2021-02-23 | |||
| Missing Maps Friends of MSF Newcastle Mapathon | 2021-02-24 | |||
| Missing Maps Spanish Red Cross Mapathon | 2021-02-24 | |||
| Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy | Rencontre mensuelle (virtuelle) Nancy | ✓ | 2021-02-24 |  |
| Map For Future Mapathon | 2021-02-24 | |||
| 2021-02-24 | |||
| Düsseldorf | Düsseldorfer OSM-Treffen (online) | 2021-02-24 | | |
| Osborne County | OpenStreetMap U.S. Virtual Mappy Hour | ✓ | 2021-02-25 |  |
| JOSM Training and Mapathon Hosted by the YouthMappers Validation Hub | 2021-02-25 | |||
| okres Žilina | Missing Maps mapathon Slovakia online #2 | ✓ | 2021-02-25 |  |
| 2021-02-25 | |||
| UN Mappers weekly mapathon | 2021-02-25 | |||
| Missing Maps American Red Cross February Mapathon (Pacific NW) | 2021-02-26 | |||
| 2021-02-25 | |||
| Missing Maps German Red Cross Mapathon | 2021-02-25 | |||
| Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team Community WG: Colonialism in Open Data and Mapping Webinar | 2021-02-26 | |||
| Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team Community WG: Colonialism in Open Data and Mapping Webinar | 2021-02-26 | |||
| gmina Krośniewice | Virtual community meeting. | 2021-02-26 |  | |
| Virtueel treffen Openstreetmap NL | 2021-02-27 | |||
| Univers3s: Séminaire de Formation en OpenStreetMap | 2021-02-27 – 2021-02-28 | |||
| Biella | Incontro mensile OSMers BI-VC-CVL (online) | 2021-02-27 – 2021-02-28 |  | |
| Friends of MSF Ottawa Mapathon on/sur OpenStreetMap | 2021-02-27 – 2021-02-28 | |||
| Colectivo das Pedras Galladas: Obradoiro de OpenStreetMap | 2021-02-27 | |||
| Essen | FOSSGIS-OSM-Communitytreffen (Online) | ✓ | 2021-02-28 | |
| Missing Maps CartONG Mapathon | 2021-03-01 | |||
| London | Missing Maps London Mapathon | ✓ | 2021-03-02 | gb |
| Landau an der Isar | Virtuelles Niederbayern-Treffen | ✓ | 2021-03-02 | |
| UN Mappers weekly mapathon | 2021-03-03 | |||
| Missing Maps German Red Cross: Validierungsmapathon für erfahrene Kartierer | 2021-03-03 | |||
| TechGirlz Workshop: Mapping For Humanity, Using Digital Mapping To Better The World | 2021-03-04 – 2021-03-05 | |||
| San Jose | Virtual Civic Hack & Map Night | ✓ | 2021-03-05 | |
| OSGeo.nl: De Grote Geo Show OpenStreetMap Special | 2021-03-04 | |||
| Nordrhein-Westfalen | Mapper*innentreffen Bochum | 2021-03-04 | | |
| Dresden | Dresdner OSM-Stammtisch | ✓ | 2021-03-04 | |
| Missing Maps UC Davis Doctors Without Borders Mapathon | 2021-03-05 | |||
| gmina Krośniewice | Virtual community meeting. | 2021-03-05 | | |
| Open Data Day 2021 | 2021-03-06 | |||
| Dar es Salaam | Tanzania Data Lab + OpenMap Development Tanzania: HIV/AIDS hotspots and testing facilities Mapathon | 2021-03-06 |  | |
| Kampala | OpenStreetMap Uganda Mapping Uganda’s New Cities Mapthon | 2021-03-06 |  | |
| 臺北市 | Open Data Day Taiwan 2021 | 2021-03-06 |  | |
| Missing Maps American Red Cross International Women’s Day Mapathon 2021 | 2021-03-08 | |||
| Missing Maps CartONG Mapathon | 2021-03-08 | |||
| 臺北市 | OSM x Wikidata #26 | 2021-03-08 | | |
| Hamburg | Hamburger Mappertreffen | 2021-03-09 | | |
| Chippewa Township | OpenStreetMap Michigan Meetup | ✓ | 2021-03-11 | |
| Missing Maps German Red Cross Einführung JOSM Mapathon | 2021-03-10 | |||
| Osborne County | OpenStreetMap U.S. Virtual Mappy Hour | ✓ | 2021-03-11 | |
| UN Mappers weekly mapathon | 2021-03-11 | |||
| Zürich | OSM-Treffen Zürich | 2021-03-11 |  | |
| Berlin | 153. Berlin-Brandenburg OpenStreetMap Stammtisch (Online) | 2021-03-11 | | |
| München | Münchner OSM-Stammtisch | 2021-03-11 | | |
| Berlin | Remote DB Regio Hackathon | 2021-03-12 – 2021-03-13 | | |
| Missing Maps Friends of MSF Lancaster Mapathon | 2021-03-13 |
Note:
If you like to see your event here, please put it into the OSM calendar. Only data which is there, will appear in weeklyOSM.
This weeklyOSM was produced by Anne Ghisla, Mannivu, Nordpfeil, PierZen, Polyglot, rogehm, SK53, Sammyhawkrad, TheSwavu, YoViajo, derFred.