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18/04/2024-24/04/2024
Panoramax.fr – The free alternative for photo-mapping territories [1] | © Panoramax.fr | map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Mapping
- Clay_C discussed the process of mapping pipelines using US government data, specifically from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. He outlined a detailed workflow for using JOSM to download and map pipelines within specific US counties, thereby increasing the accessibility and utility of the data for OpenStreetMap projects.
- Wikimedia Italia has published
► a short tutorial on how to start contributing to OpenStreetMap. - The proposal for
shop=tortillais up for discussion. - The proposal to set the key
open=*is in the voting phase until Tuesday 7 May.
►
Mapping campaigns
- OpenStreetMap Belgium is hosting a mapathon on Wednesday 8 May, at 7 PM in the Muntpunt Café, Brussels, with an aim of reducing the number of open map notes in Belgium.
Community
- Branko Kokanovic shared a detailed guide to optimising the use of the Insta360 ONE RS 1-inch camera for capturing and uploading street-level imagery to Mapillary, including tips on camera handling, video splitting, and improving GPS tracking accuracy using software solutions such as Geoapify for map matching. The images can also be uploaded to Panoramax.
- Now that the call for contributions has closed, the State of the Map France 2024 is opening ► their platform for managing proposals for speakers and presentations using the ‘Pretalx’ software.
►OpenStreetMap Foundation
- The OpenStreetMap Foundation’s Communications Working Group has provided an update on how to request support for social media posts or other communications. They have provided a detailed template for submissions aimed at streamlining the process of promoting community stories and events on OSM’s official social media channels.
Events
- FOSSGIS e.V. is currently seeking locations for the 2026, 2027, and 2028 FOSSGIS conferences. Interested parties have until Sunday 30 June to submit their applications via email, as detailed in their Call for Location document.
- The IVIDES Institute will be hosting ► an online workshop on the mapping of waterways in OpenStreetMap on Friday 10 May, at which Séverin Ménard (UN Mappers/UNGSC) will be participating. The call for registration is open ► and details can be found on the event page.
- The State of the Map US 2024 will be held at the University of Utah 6 to 8 June. Registration is now open and the conference programme has been announced.
- Swiss OpenStreetMap will hold a presentation and discussion on the upcoming report from the SBB and BAV (Bundesamt für Verkehr) on use of OpenStreetMap on Thursday 2 May from 5 to 6 pm.
locations for the 2026, 2027, and 2028 FOSSGIS conferences. Interested parties have until Sunday 30 June to submit their applications via email, as detailed in their 
►Education
- Anne-Karoline Distel showed, in a short video, how you can support OpenStreetMap by capturing public notes.
- The IVIDES Institute held ► an event on importing points of interest into OpenStreetMap. Dr. Raquel Souto commented ► about this workshop in her diary, saying that she included, as an example, a subset of the 2022 Brazilian Demographic Census’ official data.
Maps
- The Agroecology map currently shows and describes 541 locations worldwide where ecological principles are being applied to agroecosystems. The same information is also available through an Android app.
- bopjesvla has developed Tiny World Map, a world map designed specifically for web applications that prioritise offline functionality and operate efficiently with limited bandwidth.
- Christoph Hormann explored potential future trends in map design within OpenStreetMap, critiquing the OpenStreetMap Foundation’s historical and current map rendering strategies. Hormann highlighted the challenges and limitations of the transition to vector tiles, which reduces operational costs but shifts a significant amount of data processing to the user side, potentially complicating map design and data management. The discussion also highlights the tension between technological efficiency and creative control over map design.
OSM in action
- Jacek Gęborys has created several maps visualising the accessibility of railway stations in various major cities. He used QGIS with OpenStreetMap as a source for the stops, in particular with the Overpass API, which allows you to automate the fetching of data and GraphHopper for calculating isochrones.
- The Russian OSM community has noticed that the mobile application lessy.app is using OSM data rendered in the style of Yandex.Maps.
- euroPathfinder and Barthwo, two active mappers, took part in the seminar ‘Route 3.0 and OpenStreetMap’ at the invitation of the Saarland Tourist Board ►. In their blog post euroPathfinder briefly presented ► Thomas Froitzheim’s seminar, in which Saarland tourism experts were trained to check the correct mapping of hiking and cycling tour routes in OSM. The tools used were uMap, BRouter Web, GPX Viewer and WayMarkedTrails.
that the mobile application lessy.app is 
►Programming
Releases
- GraphHopper version 9.0 has been released. It comes with an improved GPX export, updated translations, many bug fixes, more route hints, and conditional access information.
- Aerosoft and Thera Bytes have launched a new PC farming simulation ‘Global Farmer‘, which lets players build farms anywhere in the world using OpenStreetMap data, incorporating real agricultural parameters and challenges.
- Roland Olbricht has announced the release of Overpass Version 0.7.62, including newly completed documentation on the user_touched filter and museum (attic) data, along with a detailed component overview for local server instances.
Did you know …
- … about the tools that allow you to select a bounding box, on a reference map, through a visual interface?
- … that the OpenStreetMap wiki has an A to Z to help you figure out how to tag objects?
- … that the Changelog page, on the the OSM wiki, documents recent changes to tagging strategies, listing new tags that have been added, modified, or deprecated?
- … that it is possible to create a city map with the help of OSM data? No? MyOSMatic is the solution for you!
- … that you can generate a specially styled OpenStreetMap-based map for the purpose of surveying an area by utilising RenderMyMap?
OSM in the media
- [1] ZDNet reviewed ► Panoramax, the digital commons platform, sponsored by IGN and OpenStreetMap France, which offers a free alternative to services such as Google StreetView. It features nearly 18 million terrain view photos contributed by various entities and aims to provide an open, decentralised system for sharing geolocated, ground-level photos under free licences that can be used for various applications, including urban infrastructure management.
Other “geo” things
- Wikidata’s ‘Coordinate Me 2024’ is an international competition taking place in May that encourages participants to improve or create new Wikidata items that have a coordinate location property, focusing on a variety of countries to improve global data coverage.
- swissinfo.ch explored the significant contribution of Swiss cartography and a Swiss entrepreneur, Samuel Widmann, to the development of Google Maps. It highlights Switzerland’s long tradition of detailed and accurate mapmaking, which laid the groundwork for the creation of global geodatabases and ultimately influenced modern digital mapping technologies. The story also details how Swiss innovations in map accuracy and aesthetics were crucial before Google acquired Widmann’s company, Endoxon.
- Google Maps is rolling out new features with the intention of addressing the common concern of locating charging stations, which are of interest to the owners of electric vehicles.
- Pierre Blanchet, from Meteory, has developed a machine learning model to monitor hedges across France by using aerial imagery.
- An article on TradingView explained the concept of mapping on a blockchain and discusses its potential to improve the accuracy, privacy, and security of geographic data compared to traditional GPS systems by using decentralised methods of data verification and storage. The article does not include the obligatory xkcd cartoon.
- ORBIS, the Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World, is an interactive tool hosted by Stanford University that simulates the logistics of travel and communication in ancient Rome. It allows users to calculate travel times and costs across various routes and modes of transportation, such as roads, rivers, and seas, based on historical data and geographic models.
- Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (Current height data Netherlands) provides an interactive viewer of detailed topographic data covering the Netherlands with approximately 950 billion measurements. This tool allows users to explore a high-resolution point cloud of the Dutch landscape, offering visualisation options such as height, intensity, reflections, and feature classification.
Upcoming Events
| Where | What | Online | When | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aachen | 5. Treffen Aachener Stammtisch 2.0  | 2024-04-25 |  | |
| Potsdam | Radnetz Brandenburg Mapping Abend #6 | 2024-04-25 | | |
| OSMF Engineering Working Group meeting | 2024-04-26 | |||
| Prishtinë | Kosovo TomTom Editing Party | 2024-04-26 |  | |
| Bengaluru | OSM Bengaluru Mapping Party | 2024-04-27 |  | |
| OpenStreetMap visual impaired accessibility initiative – kickoff (online) | 2024-04-27 | |||
| Fianarantsoa | State of the Map Madagascar | 2024-04-28 – 2024-04-29 |  | |
| Brno | Missing Maps Mapathon at the Department of Geography | 2024-04-29 |  | |
| Fianarantsoa | OSM Africa April Mapathon – Map Madagasikara | 2024-04-30 | | |
| San Jose | South Bay Map Night | ✓ | 2024-05-01 |  |
| Dresden | OSM-Stammtisch Dresden | 2024-05-02 | | |
| Essen | FOSSGIS-OSM-Communitytreffen 2024 Nummer 20 | 2024-05-03 – 2024-05-05 | | |
| Bochum | OSM-Workshop | 2024-05-05 | | |
| 臺北市 | OpenStreetMap x Wikidata Taipei #64 | 2024-05-06 |  | |
| Encontro OSM Brasil (online) | 2024-05-08 | |||
| Missing Maps London Mapathon | 2024-05-07 | |||
| München | Münchner OSM-Treffen | 2024-05-08 | | |
| Lorain County | OpenStreetMap Midwest Meetup | ✓ | 2024-05-09 | |
| Bruxelles – Brussel | Notes meetup | 2024-05-08 |  | |
| Stuttgart | Stuttgarter OpenStreetMap-Treffen | 2024-05-08 | | |
| Rio de Janeiro | 💻 Oficina de mapeamento de waterways no OpenStreetMap – YouthMappers UFRJ | 2024-05-10 |  | |
| Mainz | OpenStreetMap-Stammtisch Mainz | 2024-05-11 | | |
| SotM Asia 2024 monthly meeting | 2024-05-11 | |||
| Zürich | 163. OSM-Stammtisch Zürich | 2024-05-13 |  | |
| Grenoble | Réunion groupe local Grenoble : Panoramax – L’alternative libre pour photo-cartographier les territoires | 2024-05-13 |  |
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 MatthiasMatthias, Strubbl, TheSwavu, barefootstache, derFred, euroPathfinder, mcliquid, renecha, rtnf.
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