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OpenSource Map Database

posted by Satri on Monday April 10, @12:21PM   Printer-friendly   Email story  Permalink  Trackback URI  Slashdotthis  Diggthis  Del.icio.us
from the where's-the-fountain-of-map-sources? dept.
Ask Slashgeo GPS Transportation
gujju writes "I've been thinking of building an open source GPS-based navigation software for in-vehicle navigation. Unfortunately there are no accurate opensource maps available to use for this purpose. I know TIGER files are freely available but they are hopelessly inaccurate and out-dated. Are there any opensource (freely available) map sources. If not, what are your opinions on starting a Wiki-style opensource map database to build a datasource similar to something that Navteq has?"

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Build Your Own Web-Based GPS Tracking System [+]
mdflynn writes "Having your own personal web-based mobile GPS tracking system doesn't have to be a complicated and expensive ordeal. Now there's an Open Source solution, called OpenDMTP, that allows you to build your own simple mobile GPS tracking system from a laptop and have the data delivered right to your own computer over your home broad-band service. And with the addition of a webserver and Google Maps client-side JavaScript, you'll be able to see the data over the web on an interactive map!"
Industry: New Open Source Mobile GPS Tracking Protocol [+]
MDFlynn writes "With GPS popularity rising, a new Open Source mobile GPS tracking protocol is now available and includes a full-featured reference implementation. The project, OpenDMTP (Open Device Monitoring and Tracking Protocol), was designed as a highly configurable/extensible protocol for obtaining data from remote devices over high-latency/low-bandwidth networks. We take OpenDMTP on a field test using a Linux laptop, GPS receiver, and a GPRS modem, to showcase the capabilities of the protocol."
Industry: Open Source Alternatives to Consumer Map Programs 3 comments [+]
Ofer writes "Open source tends to be lacking in consumer map programs ala Microsoft Streets and Trips and Delorme's Street Atlas. There are several efforts to repair that situation. GMap, Roadster, and RoadNav are three examples. Using US Census public domain data, all three of these generate map information on the fly. GMap and Roadster have the advantage of collaboration; both will be using the same file format in the future. GMap has the advantage of a navigation mode and Roadster has the advantage of being more complete and currently faster. RoadNav is complete but slower than roadster."
OpenStreetMap Citizen-driven Mapping [+]
Steve Coast writes "OpenStreetMap is an effort to create free maps of the world, mainly in areas like Europe where national mapping agencies have a monopoly on mapping data. The maps are created by annotating GPS traces or using photography. There is an active mailing list and wiki as well as a ever-growing code base and coders hacking away. We're also trying to raise a little money by selling some stunning posters."
Industry: Maps and Geography Open APIs 2 comments [+]
All Points Blog links to a Maps and Geography Open APIs wiki. All entries are described by: * Provider - Who is providing the API? * Description - What does the API let you do? * Commercial Use - Can you use this API for commercial use without asking? * Limits - Are there any limitations to amount of usage? * Terms - Link to Terms of Service.
U.S.'s 2007 TIGER Data in Shapefile Format 1 comment [+]
The U.S. TIGER dataset has been rarely mentioned here before. The Free GIS D&I Geoblog linked to the announcement from the U.S. Census Bureau that the 2007 First Edition Public TIGER/Line will be available in the shapefiles format. What is TIGER? It stands for "Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing" and from the Wikipedia page: "[...] TIGER/Line is a format used by the United States Census Bureau to describe land attributes such as roads, buildings, rivers, and lakes, as well as areas such as census tracts. TIGER was developed to support and improve the Bureau's process of taking the Decennial Census. TIGER data can be used by GIS applications and is available without cost due to the requirement for U.S. Government publications to be released into the public domain." Some related stories below. Update: 01/25 04:42 GMT by S : Humm.. apologies, corrected the story, the data is not yet available, the site say "Starting in January 2008, the Census Bureau will begin releasing TIGER spatial data in shapefile format." but it seems it's not available yet...
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  • See links above

    (Score:2)
    by Satri (3) on Monday April 10, @12:13PM (#597)
    ( http://alexandreleroux.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Friday March 17, @04:07PM )
    Hi Gujju - This topic has been discussed indirectly on various occasions on slashgeo, see the related links above. As for sources of public data, I don't think there is a simple solution, maybe another user can comment? :-)

  • openstreetmap

    (Score:2, Informative)
    by SteveC (489) on Monday April 10, @12:51PM (#598)
    You want to be involved with openstreetmap [openstreetmap.org].

  • TIGER/LINE

    (Score:2, Informative)
    by greg (437) on Monday April 10, @03:59PM (#599)
    You may want to consider working with TIGER/LINE 2005 for the counties that have gone through the accuracy improvement project. There's a list at:

    http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/tiger2005fe/tg r2005fe.html [census.gov]

    Even if parts are out of date and inaccurate, you could also consider starting with all of it as a base and have users add/update information.

    • Re:TIGER/LINE

      (Score:3, Informative)
      by gujju (488) on Tuesday April 11, @10:43AM (#603)
      I was thinking of using TIGER/LINE as a launching point. Combine this with satellite imagery, and use OpenStreetMap to improve the accuracy of TIGER. I've done this manually at work for a couple of projects and was wondering if there was something out there.
      [ Parent ]

      • Re:TIGER/LINE

        (Score:3, Interesting)
        by greg (437) on Tuesday April 11, @11:15AM (#604)
        Good idea. I haven't seen anything systematic outside of the accuracy improvement project at the Census Bureau. I've heard of one-off efforts by county or town municipalities where they improve selected TIGER layers to match their own data.

        Good luck!
        [ Parent ]

  • Pedantic

    (Score:3, Insightful)
    by belg4mit (226) on Monday April 10, @04:55PM (#600)
    ( http://pthbb.org/ )
    They aren't "inaccurate", they simply aren't intended for use at large scales.
    --
    In Bob we trust, all others bring data.

  • vmap data

    (Score:1, Informative)
    by Anonymous Voxel on Monday April 10, @10:28PM (#601)
    There is some open data from the us mil. vmap project

  • OpenStreetMap

    (Score:1)
    by SharpGIS (413) on Tuesday April 11, @07:14AM (#602)
    ( http://www.sharpgis.net/ )
    You might want to have a loko at http://www.openstreetmap.org/ [openstreetmap.org]