5 ms·

Maybe stupid question, but doesn't most (western) countries have the equivalent of Ordnance Survey Maps, i.e. government produced decent quality public map set?

by zokier 7y ago

lucb1e 7y ago
I don't know about a general survey of (western) countries, but I would guess yes. As one datapoint, the Netherlands indeed has this: PDOK[1] is a cooperation between the agency that collects building/plot plans (Kadaster), ministry of internal affairs, ministry of economics and climate, the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat), and some non-profit called Geonovum. Very few people know of it aside from openstreetmap contributors, since we can get some data from there (not all of it is license-compatible, but things like addresses and buildings are imported), but it's quite comprehensive and has interesting maps like noise levels alongside major roads. The EU has the INSPIRE project[2], though it's not exactly a map so much as a link to various maps of the member states and agreeing on some common standard to make sure they work when combined. [1] https://pdok.nl https://pdok.nl (Dutch) [2] https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/ https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/
flother 7y ago
“Coming from a country where mapmakers tend to exclude any landscape feature smaller than, say, Pike’s Peak, I am constantly impressed by the richness of detail on the OS 1:25,000 series. They include every wrinkle and divot of the landscape, every barn, milestone, wind pump and tumulus. They distinguish between sand pits and gravel pits and between power lines strung from pylons and power lines strung from poles. This one even included the stone seat on which I sat now. It astounds me to be able to look at a map and know to the square metre where my buttocks are deployed.” — Bill Bryson, Notes from a Small Island (1997)
- maxerickson 7y ago
  USGS maps are the US equivalent and slightly more detailed than he indicates: https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=38.79182,-105.01797&z=11&b=t&o=r&n=0.25 https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=38.79182,-105.01797&z=11&b=t... (That's a tile map, but they were originally available on paper, as described at the linked story)
- gumby 7y ago
  As usual with Bryson he turns to hyperbole to make a point. The USGS maps are pretty good
dagw 7y ago
They do, but (like OS Maps) many are only updated once every few decades. Which means that they're great for physical features, but lacking when it comes to man made features like paths, bridges, wind shelters etc. A secondary problem is licensing. Not all mapping agencies allow you to freely or easily download their maps onto a phone or provide enough metadata to allow you to do things like routing etc.

Maybe stupid question, but doesn't most (western) countries have the equivalent of Ordnance Survey Maps, i.e. government produced decent quality public map set?

by zokier 7y ago

Maybe stupid question, but doesn't most (western) countries have the equivalent of Ordnance Survey Maps, i.e. government produced decent quality public map set?

lucb1e 7y ago

I don't know about a general survey of (western) countries, but I would guess yes. As one datapoint, the Netherlands indeed has this: PDOK[1] is a cooperation between the agency that collects building/plot plans (Kadaster), ministry of internal affairs, ministry of economics and climate, the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat), and some non-profit called Geonovum. Very few people know of it aside from openstreetmap contributors, since we can get some data from there (not all of it is license-compatible, but things like addresses and buildings are imported), but it's quite comprehensive and has interesting maps like noise levels alongside major roads. The EU has the INSPIRE project[2], though it's not exactly a map so much as a link to various maps of the member states and agreeing on some common standard to make sure they work when combined. [1] https://pdok.nl https://pdok.nl (Dutch) [2] https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/ https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/

flother 7y ago

“Coming from a country where mapmakers tend to exclude any landscape feature smaller than, say, Pike’s Peak, I am constantly impressed by the richness of detail on the OS 1:25,000 series. They include every wrinkle and divot of the landscape, every barn, milestone, wind pump and tumulus. They distinguish between sand pits and gravel pits and between power lines strung from pylons and power lines strung from poles. This one even included the stone seat on which I sat now. It astounds me to be able to look at a map and know to the square metre where my buttocks are deployed.” — Bill Bryson, Notes from a Small Island (1997)

maxerickson 7y ago
USGS maps are the US equivalent and slightly more detailed than he indicates: https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=38.79182,-105.01797&z=11&b=t&o=r&n=0.25 https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=38.79182,-105.01797&z=11&b=t... (That's a tile map, but they were originally available on paper, as described at the linked story)
gumby 7y ago
As usual with Bryson he turns to hyperbole to make a point. The USGS maps are pretty good

dagw 7y ago

They do, but (like OS Maps) many are only updated once every few decades. Which means that they're great for physical features, but lacking when it comes to man made features like paths, bridges, wind shelters etc. A secondary problem is licensing. Not all mapping agencies allow you to freely or easily download their maps onto a phone or provide enough metadata to allow you to do things like routing etc.