In an era dominated by visual information, the ability to tell a compelling story through imagery is not just an art—it’s a critical science. For professionals and enthusiasts in geography, earth observation, and space technology, raw data from satellites and sensors is the beginning of the narrative. The true power lies in transforming this data into posters and pictures that don’t just inform,…
Beyond the SIM Card: The Dawn of Anonymous eSIM and Truly Private Global Connectivity In an era where our digital footprints are meticulously tracked, analyzed, and often monetized, the concept of privacy in connectivity feels like a relic of the past. Every time our phones ping a cell tower, a record is created, painting a detailed picture of our movements, habits, and associations. But a quiet…
Geodata, Light Body, Physical Body, Digital I.D, Travel Document and Property Rights
Geodata - Metaverse, Multidimensional Unit. Light Body [Artificial / Natural] - Multiverse, Universe, Galaxy, Constellation, Solar system, Planet, Internationally Managed Territory / Country, Street, Road, Dimension, Density, GPS coordinates. Physical Body - Planet, Internationally Managed Territory / Country, Street, Road, GPS coordinates. Digital I.D - National, Diplomatic, International Organization. Travel Document - National Passport, Diplomatic Passport, Laissez Passer.
Member states of international organizations must collectively respond to attacks and all forms of intimidation, harassment, trespassing and aggression on international organization appointees / staff and senseless acts of vandalism by belligerent non state actors that happen to be members of terrorist organizations and their proxies on physical and digital assets owned by international organizations in the multidimensional unit in sovereign states and internationally managed territories. Lack of response will set a dangerous precedent which will enable infiltration by terrorist organizations into international organizations. One cannot traverse across country boundaries in the multidimensional unit without a visa; immigration rules must be followed dependent on one’s current political status. One’s physical body is a house for one’s own light bodies, specifically the light bodies that can fit where the Earth tetrahedron meets the Sun tetrahedron in the light field Merkabah. Property rights and international civil servants must be protected while immigration rules must be enforced. The Light bodies belonging to members of terrorist organizations engaging in trespassing, destruction and vandalism of property must be tracked to their owners using the geodata of their physical bodies with precision as an SOP.
Best Regards, H.M King Fredrick Gakuru Muchoki I [H.M King Fredrik Zion Asher I], 5th King of Israel - United Kingdom of New Israel [New Israel Realm], Commonwealth of Israel Nations - Chairman, OREC - Chairman, Zion Asher King Fredrik Law [KF LAW] - Founder, Owner, & Public International Lawyer, H.M King Fredrik Zion Trust - Founder, & Shareholder together with the Government of Israel, United Nations - Secretary General.
2020 FLIBS Transit Map with new detail maps
Design by John Potter – Escape Key Graphics
I’ve just finished the transit map for the 2020 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Like last year it shows shuttle bus routes and stops, Water Taxi stops and Uber and Lyft stops as well as parking. This year also features two smaller detail maps. One is of show center at Bahia Mar and Las Olas Marina.…
ICRE. InmoClip Real Estate
#geodataurbana #activosinmobiliarios
Nuevo caso de éxito. Seguimos aumentando nuestra #geodata de #activos.
Oportunidades inmobiliarias. (en Madrid, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBQewobqg4V/?igshid=1c43huhcj6jko
This blog post is an instruction for teachers, high school students and
all who are
interested in creating their own map or in doing geospatial data analysis.
The aim of
this post is to show how one can access OpenStreetMap data
and how to use it efficiently with QGIS 3.
This
instruction deals only with the use of existing data from OpenStreetMap.
Those who want to capture their own data can got to the other blog post on this site about “Creating a Thematic Online-Map using uMap” (see also ”Mit uMap eine thematische Online-Karte erstellen” on OpenSchoolMaps).
Extract
and download OpenStreetMap data
The
data from OpenStreetMap (OSM) can be saved in different formats locally. That’s why
we will first provide a few examples.
OpenStreetMap
and Geographic Information Systems
The
geometry of objects in OSM are saved internally in the form of a
topological structure (Nodes, Ways). And attributes are saved as
tags (Key-Value-Pairs) which means data schema is open. This data schema first has to be mapped to a relational structure to be used in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). There is not
a single GIS format for OSM, making each conversion to a GIS format potentially different.
Formats
As
a rule one can differentiate between OSMs own and GIS formats.
OSM
specific formats are OSM XML and OSM PBF
Formats
compatible with GIS are Geopackage (as well as similar ones like
Spatialite/SQLite or MBTile/SQLite), Shapefiles or GeoJSON (TopoJSON).
Further
GIS vector formats are KML as well as GPX for data exchange with GPS.
Another group of formats are pictures/raster formats like PNG, JPEG, SVG and PDF.
Accessing
OpenStreetMap Data for a Country
This
website from Geofabrik (Germany) freely offers OSM data for whole
countries and regions. The data can be downloaded as OSM PBF, Shapefile zipped or as OSM XML bz2-zipped.
If you hover over a region or country, you can see a
preview on the right side.
The data is divided into regions (continents) and countries. Depending on the size of a country, it is splitted into smaller parts. The
OSM data from Geofabrik is updated every 24 hours. That means one has to wait up to 24 hours before changes are available as Geofabrik extracts.
OSM.org
On OSM.org you can download data too, but only areas with a side length smaller than ~10 km, and only in the OSM XML format.
Export Tool maintained by HOTOSM
The
Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOTOSM) offers an online tool to download data
from OpenStreetMap (figure 1). To use the Export Tool you need an OpenStreetMap account and a
working E-Mail adress. After the registration, you can change the export
settings and select what you want to download.
Figure 1. Export Tool maintained by HOTOSM.
After that
you can select how you want to download the data.
You can
either:
Search
a location
Give
a bounding box with coordinates
Mark
the area on the map
Select your current view
Upload
a GeoJSON file
For the first
two options you need to use the search bar. Either type in the location you’re
looking for, or set the bounding box coordinates (West, South, East, North).
To draw a
bounding box or area (3), you can use the draw function on the right. To select the current view (4) press the This View
button.
If you want
to upload a GeoJSON file as polygon boundary (5), you can do that with the Import
button. A website that is good for creating such a polygon is GeoJSON.io! Be careful not upload only a single polygon. After you have created your GeoJSON file, you need to
adapt it for the Export Tool. For that you need to copy the file into a text editor. The
simplest version only needs a type and a list of coordinates.
Figure 2. Format of the GeoJSON file for the HOTOSM Export Tool.
OSMaxx
With OSMaxx
you can download existing and new excerpts from OSM in different GIS
formats. Its similar to the HOTOSM Export Tool. You will need an OSM account and a valid e-mail for this as well.
You can
download existing excerpts under Existing
Excerpt / Country, you can also select in what format the file should be
downloaded, what kind of coordination system should be used and how detailed
the excerpt should be.
Under New Excerpt you can select the area
which you want to download from OSM. For that you can draw either a quadrangle
or a polygon over the map. You can also select which format should be
downloaded, which coordinate system should be used and how many details you
want.
It takes
roughly 30 minutes until the data extract is ready for download.
BBBike
BBBike offers the data from OSM in many formats. To
extract that data you need to create a bounding box. That box has a
maximum size of 24.000.000 km2 or 512 MB as a file. After you gave a
valid e-mail address and give the extraction a name, you can press
extract in order to receive a download link.
[[MORE]]
Import
OpenStreetMap data into QGIS or extract it directly
Import OSM with
inbuilt QGIS Tools
With the inbuilt
tool of QGIS you can download and import data directly from OSM. In the first
step we should select the map from OSM as background. For that you initialize
the Plugin QuickMapService, which you can find under Plugins > Manage and Install Plugins… . Look for “QuickMapservices”
from there. After installing
that, you go to Web >
QuickMapServices > OSM. Afterwards it should have added a layer with the
whole OSM map. In the next
step you go to OSM and search for a place witch you want to export
the data from. Zoom in as far as possible to reduce the amount of data you need
to download and click on the blue button labeled Export and give the file a clear name. Return to
QGIS and go to Add Vector Layer under
Layer > Add Layer. Select the file
which you just downloaded and click Add.
In the dialog window, which ask for what data you want to import, select Points and click OK.
Figure 3. Dialog to import OSM data.
It should
have added a new layer, which contains all the points from your OSM excerpt. Close the
open dialogs in QGIS.
Now we want
to filter the points after certain criteria. In our case we filter after pubs.
Of course you can filter after different points.
To filter
you just need to right click on the Point-Layer and select Open Attribute Table. A window should open in table format, which
contains the data from the layer. Select the tool Select features using an expression with E symbol on the top left
of the window. Look at the table again. To filter for pubs you need to look for
the keyword amenity in the column Other Tags. If you want to filter after
a column, write your query like this: name = ‘UBS’.
In our case we need to change the query a bit,
since there are many different values in the column. Write the following query
into the tool: strpos(other_tags, ’ “amenity”>“pub”
’) != 0. Here other_tags is the column
name and “amenity”>“pub” is the value for which we
search.
With a click
on Select features it runs the query.
Figure 4. Filter for
pubs in QGIS.
When
you now returns back to the map view, all the points that pass the query should
be marked yellow. If you’re are happy with the selection, you can right click
on the layer and press Save Selected
Features As under Export.
In
the newly open window you can set the name and the format of the file and with OK you confirm your selection and save
the points in a separate layer and add it to the map.
Figure 5. Export selected points.
Import OSM with
QGIS-Plugin QuickOSM
You can
also import the data into QGIS directly from OSM, using the QuickOSM plugin. If
you haven’t installed it already you can do so under Plugins > Manage and Install Plugins. Where you can search for QuickOSM and install it.
Figure 6. Installing QuickOSM.
After
the installation you open the pluging in a new window under Vector > QuickOSM. Under Quick query you can create a simple
query, which will be handled by Overpass-API.
Under the
ledge Query and under Parameters you can select the different instances
of Overpass-API. You can for example replace the preset Overpass-Instance with http://overpass-turbo.osm.ch/.
The goal of this blog post is to show how one can create a
thematic online map using uMap with thematic data coming either from OpenStreetMap directly or from a layer added “by hand”.
This instruction can be read in a row, but typically one follows the instructions and then jumps directly to another chapter where the instruction continues based on
given requirements and eventually existing data.
Figure 1 shows a decision tree which has to be read from the root top. Depending on the questions the tree finally points to chapters.
Figure 1:
Decision tree
(see larger image) containing the chapter numbers with instructions on how to include (own) geodata in uMap (from OpenStreetMap).
1. Integrate
geodata in uMap
To begin with, search in OpenStreetMap (OSM) for the geodata you want to integrate in uMap. What we actually are looking for is the tags, the key-value-pairs, like “tourism=zoo” for zoo. Consider these web tools to look for these OSM tags:
taginfo, OpenStreetMap Wiki and tagfinder.
If you can’t find the tags (meaning the geodata) you need
in OpenStreetMap, take a look at the next chapter 2. Otherwise, skip chapters 2 and
3 and continue with chapter 4.
2. Data not
available in OpenStreetMap
If the data you want to use - in our case for uMap - is not available
in OpenStreetMap, you have the following choices:
Goto chapter 2.1 “Capture data
manually in uMap“ if the amount of data is not too big.
Goto chapter 2.2
“Capture data in another tool“ if you want to gather your data in text format.
Goto chapter 2.3
“Capture data in
OpenStreetMap“ if the data is suitable for OpenStreetMap and you want
to include them.
Goto chapter 3
“Data available as
external data / data source“ if the data already exists in a geodata-format that is
supported by uMap.
2.1 Capture data manually in uMap
You can capture data manually in uMap. While doing so,
it does matter how much geodata you want to record: if it’s too much the browser can slow down quickly or even stop working because of lack of
memory. If there are only a few records - i.e. less than 5000 - take a look e.g. at OpenSchoolMaps and the topic “Create a situation plan with uMap” (”Mit uMap einen Lageplan erstellen”) there. If the data you’re going to enter in uMap fits to OpenStreetMap, consider capturing sharing it there, since this is the most sustainable way: see chapter 2.3.
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2.2
Capture data in another tool
Instead of
capturing the data in uMap you can also use another tool, like the website geojson.io or QGIS desktop.
If
you’d like to do it with QGIS, look at “Management and capturing of Geodata“ (”Verwaltung und Erfassung von Geodaten”)
in the QGIS section
on
OpenSchoolMaps. Geojson.io is a simple online geodata editor which allows you to edit points, lines, and polygons, manage attributes and exchange this with GeoJSON or other well-known formats.
After you’ve captured your geodata, either copy the data to
the clipboard and insert it in uMap (by clicking ‘import data), or
save and export it as a GeoJSON file.
For importing geodata into uMap goto to chapter 3.
Note
Make sure your data has one of the following file extensions: GeoJSON, CSV, GPX, KML, OSM (XML), GeoRSS, uMap. We recommend to import data using GeoJSON. GeoJSON is a human-readable format which e.g. supports attribute name lengths greater than 10 as opposite to Shapefiles. If you decide to go for CSV make sure you have a column for lat and lon. All other columns are imported as attributes. Under ‘Choose the format of the
data to import’ (figure 2) you have to choose the format of your file. Click the button ‘Import’ and
all your data will be imported in uMap.
Figure 2: Example on how to paste and import a GeoJSON data in uMap.
2.3 Capture data in OpenStreetMap
Another possibility is that you capture the data
directly in OpenStreetMap e.g. using the built-in editor (called “iD”) which is the default when you click on ‘Edit’ on the website. The advantage of curating the data in OpenStreetMap is, that the data can be used in
different services and is accessible for everyone. Note that - once entered - the
data is not available right away, because it must be distributed and
processed
first
among the
OpenStreetMap infrastructure.
The worksheet “Edit OpenStreetMap” (”OpenStreetMap bearbeiten”) on OpenSchoolMaps explains how to
record the data in OpenStreetMap. If the data were successfully added to
OpenStreetMap you can jump to chapter 4.
Note
Make sure the data is suitable for OpenStreetMap. That
means only objective/verifiable facts are captured, no subjective nor personal
data, and
all data must be compliant to the OBbL licence.
3. Data
available as external data / data source
If the required data is available as an external file or
data source, you can it import into
uMap. In uMap just navigate to ‘Import
Data‘ and click on the ‘Browse…’-button.
Choose your local file and confirm with ‘Open’.
Under ‘Choose the format of the
data to import’ you have to choose the format of your file.
Click the button ‘Import‘ and
all your data will be imported in uMap.
Note
As mentioned before, prefer the GeoJSON format if
possible. Make sure that the data complies with the OBbL licence.
4. Data
available in OpenStreetMap
4.1 A
snapshot from the OSM data
To import the current status of the data into uMap you can conventiently use the webservice Overpass-Turbo (or Overpass-Turbo swiss edition). With the wizard tool there you can search for certain tags in OpenStreetMap. If you’re happy with
the results you can export the data as GeoJSON by clicking the button ‘Export’.
4.2 Keeping
data up to date
If you want to keep your data in uMap up to date, it’s
very similar to the process described in the preceding section. Just open Overpass-Turbo as instructed before, and
do some searching with the wizard, for example „tourism=zoo“. Now choose menu ‘Export’, open ‘Query’ section, then click on ‘placeholders/copy’ below ‘convert to OverpassQL’ (see figure 3).
Figure 3: Export Query from Overpass-Turbo.
By clicking on ‘copy’ you
now have an URL in your clipboard. Go to the uMap view, edit the actual
layer (or create a new one) by clicking on the pen symbol under ‘Manage layers’ (figure 4).
Figure 4: Editing a Layer in uMap.
Open ‘Remote Data’ from the ‘Edit’ menu and insert the copied URL into the text field URL (figure 5). As format select ‘osm’ and activate the button ‘Dynamic’ (see ‘ON’ in figure 5).
Figure 5: Entering a remote data in uMap.
Now your map contents will always be up to date when a change is made in the OpenStreetMap data, since it will request the data using the Overpass service. On the other hand, using an external service like this involves a dependency and the response time won’t be as fast compared to data coming directly from uMap.
Under ‘From zoom‘ (figure 5) you can define the minimum
zoom if you like. This is the zoom level where the map data is being displayed. But that’s only necessary if uMap has a lot of data to
display.
If the data clutters the map visually, one can cluster a layer by configuring uMap with another dialog (’point cluster’).
5. Conclusion
With a click on the blue ‘Save’ button above right an d the disable editing button the map is
finished.
Now, you can share your map with others and/or integrate it
to your website as iframe.
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