name	OpenStreetMap
logo
screenshot
url
slogan	The Free Wiki World Map
commercial	No
type	Collaborative mapping
registration	required for contributors
owner	OpenStreetMap Community. Project support by OpenStreetMap Foundation.
author	Steve Coast
launch date
alexa	6,461 ()
footnotes	}}

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world. Two major driving forces behind the establishment and growth of OSM have been restrictions on use or availability of map information across much of the world and the advent of inexpensive portable Satellite navigation devices.

The maps are created using data from portable SAT NAV devices, aerial photography, other free sources or simply from local knowledge. Both rendered images and the vector dataset are available for download under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence.

The OpenStreetMap approach to mapping was inspired by sites such as Wikipedia; the map display features a prominent "Edit" link and a full revision history is maintained. Registered users can upload GPS track logs and edit the vector data using free GIS editing tools like JOSM. Various mobile applications also allow contribution of GPX tracks to the OSM project.

History[link]

OpenStreetMap (OSM) was founded in July 2004 by Steve Coast. In April 2006, the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF) was established to encourage the growth, development and distribution of free geospatial data and provide geospatial data for anybody to use and share. In December 2006, Yahoo confirmed that OpenStreetMap could use its aerial photography as a backdrop for map production.

In April 2007, Automotive Navigation Data (AND) donated a complete road data set for the Netherlands and trunk road data for India and China to the project and by July 2007, when the first OSM international ''The State of the Map'' conference was held, there were 9,000 registered users. Sponsors of the event included Google, Yahoo and Multimap. In August 2007, an independent project, OpenAerialMap, was launched, to hold a database of aerial photography available on open licensing and in October 2007, OpenStreetMap completed the import of a US Census TIGER road dataset. In December 2007, Oxford University became the first major organisation to use OpenStreetMap data on their main website.

In January 2008, functionality was made available to download map data into a GPS unit for use by cyclists. In February 2008, a series of workshops were held in India. In March, two founders announced that they have received venture capital funding of 2.4M euros for CloudMade, a commercial company that will use OpenStreetMap data.

Users[link]

By August 2008, shortly after the second ''The State of the Map'' conference was held, there were over 50,000 registered contributors; by March 2009, there were 100,000 and by the end of 2009 the figure was nearly 200,000. In Nov 2011, OpenStreetMap cleared 500,000 registered users.

Not all registered contributors actually contribute to the map; a minority of individuals contribute the majority of the content. In March 2008, approximately 10% of the registered user base were contributing map data each month, and in 2011, this percentage is around 3%.

Map production[link]

Technique[link]

The initial map data were collected from scratch by volunteers performing systematic ground surveys using a handheld GPS unit and a notebook, digital camera, or a voice recorder. These data were then entered into the OpenStreetMap database.

More recently, the availability of aerial photography and other data sources from commercial and government sources has greatly increased the speed of this work and has allowed land-use data to be collected more accurately.

When large datasets are available, a technical team manages the conversion and import of the data.

Structured ground surveys[link]

Ground surveys are performed by a mapper, on foot, bicycle or in a car or boat. Map data are usually collected using a GPS unit, although this is not strictly necessary if an area has already been traced from satellite imagery.

Once the data has been collected, it is entered into the database by uploading it on the project's website. At that point in time, no information about the kind of uploaded track is available — it could be e.g. a motorway, a footpath or a river. Thus, in a second step, editing takes place using one of several purpose-built map editors. This is usually done by the same mapper, sometimes by other users registered at OpenStreetMap.

As collecting and uploading data is separated from editing objects, contribution to the project is possible also without using a GPS unit. In particular, placing and editing objects such as schools, hospitals, taxi ranks, bus stops, pubs etc. is done based on editors' local knowledge.

Some committed contributors are systematically mapping whole towns and cities over a period of time, or organising mapping parties to intensively map a particular area over an evening or a weekend.

In addition to structured surveys, a large number of smaller edits are made by contributors to correct errors or add features.

Government data sources[link]

Some government agencies have released official data on appropriate licenses. Much of this data has come from the United States, where the federal government does not copyright such data. See Copyright status of work by the U.S. government for more details.

Landsat 7 satellite imagery

Prototype Global Shorelines (PGS)

TIGER data of the United States

Ordnance Survey OpenData

NRCan's CanVec vector data and GeoBase's vector data sets of Canada

The National Map {USGS}

Various authorities have also made more local detailed aerial photography available on suitable licenses through OpenAerialMap.

Out-of-copyright maps can be good source of information about features that do not change frequently. Copyright periods vary, but in the UK, Crown copyright expires after 50 years and hence Ordnance Survey maps until the 1960s can legally be used. A complete set of UK 1 inch/mile maps from the late 1940s and early 1950s has been collected, scanned, and is available online as a resource for contributors.

Commercial data sources[link]

Some commercial companies have donated data to the project on suitable licenses. Notably, Automotive Navigation Data provided a complete road data set for Netherlands and details of trunk roads in China and India.

In December 2006, Yahoo! confirmed that OpenStreetMap was able to make use of their vertical aerial imagery and this photography was available within the editing software as an overlay. Contributors could create their vector based maps as a derived work, released with a free and open license, until the shutdown of the Yahoo! Maps API on September 13, 2011.

In November 2010, Microsoft announced that the OpenStreetMap community could use Bing vertical aerial imagery as a backdrop in its editors.

NearMap Pty Ltd have, since launch in November 2009, made their high-resolution PhotoMaps (currently of major Australian cities, plus some rural Australian areas) available for deriving OpenStreetMap data under a CC-BY-SA licence.

Licensing[link]

The OpenStreetMap database[link]

OpenStreetMap data is published under an open content license, with the intention of promoting free use and re-distribution of the data (both commercial and non-commercial). The license currently used is the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 licence; however, legal investigation work and community consultation is underway to relicense the project under the Open Database License (ODbL) from Open Data Commons (ODC), claimed to be more suitable for a map data set.

As part of this relicensing process, some of the map data will have to be deleted. This includes all data contributed by members who have not agreed to the new licensing terms, as well as all subsequent edits to those affected objects. It also includes any data contributed based on input data that are not compatible with the new terms. Current estimates suggest that over 95% of data will be retained in most countries, but that Australia and Poland have around a 60% acceptance rate.

Input data[link]

All data added to the project need to have a license compatible with the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license. This can include out-of-copyright information, public domain or other licenses. All contributors must register with the project and agree to provide data on a Creative Commons BY-SA 2.0 licence, or determine that the licensing of the source data is suitable. This may involve examining licences for government data to establish whether they are compatible.

This change in the licensing means that data added in future must be compatible with both the Open Database License and the new Contributor Terms in order to be accepted.

Software[link]

Software used in the production and presentation of OpenStreetMap data is available from many different projects and each may have their own licencing. The application — what users access to edit maps and view changelogs, is powered by Ruby on Rails. The application also uses PostgreSQL for storage of user data and edit metadata.

The default map is rendered by Mapnik, stored in PostGIS, and powered by an Apache module called ''mod_tile'', with Osmarender is presented as an option.

Certain parts of the software, such as the Flash-based map editor ''Potlatch2'', have been made available as public domain.

Derivations of OpenStreetMap Data[link]

OpenStreetMap is used as a data source for numerous other sites, that choose specific features of the data to highlight or remove, and provide features like higher performance and different aesthetics.

Map	Theme
OpenStreetMap	general, cyclists, public transport, mapquest
OpenStreetBrowser	overlays, search, navigation, wikipedia, public transport
Information Freeway	general, almost realtime
OSM WMS Servers	general, Web Map Services
4Umaps	European topographic map for outdoor activities. Download offline maps
OpenSeaMap	nautical chart
FreeMap	walkers
Reit- und Wanderkarte	walkers and riders
TopOSM	walkers and riders
OpenCycleMap	cyclists
OpenMTBMap	cyclists (esp. mountainbikes)
openWandelKaart.nl	walkers
YourNavigation	routing
OpenRouteService	routing
OpenOrienteeringMap	orienteering style
OpenPisteMap	skiing
Bing OSM "Map App"	general
CloudMade	general, mobile and various other custom styles
OpenAviationMap	Airspace indexing and classification
MapQuest Open (beta)	general, routing
NearMap	up-to-date photomaps
OSMTransport	public transport
ÖPNV-Karte, or OpenBusMap	public transport
OSM Mapper	Debugging maps by Ito World Ltd
OpenLinkMap	Map showing additional information, e.g. websites, wikipedia, contact, ...
Busroutes.in	public transport bus routes
Punebusguide.org	public transport bus routes

Off-line raster maps[link]

Marble viewer by KDE for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows

OpenSeaMap downloadable charts for PC (all operating systems), Garmin, Lowrance, PDA, PNA

eBookMaps downloadable street maps for ebook readers (Kindle, Nook etc.)

Handheld GPS receivers[link]

Garmin: There are several programs available that can convert OpenStreetMap data into Garmin compatible maps Bryton Ryder 50 will be the first cycling computer and SatNav device to come with OpenStreetMap data factory-loaded

Mobile phones[link]

A wide variety of programs exist by now that use OpenStreetMap data to display maps on mobile phones, supporting a large number of different devices. Amongst supported devices are nearly all phones that can run Java ME, making OpenStreetMap available to the majority of current phones, as well as platforms like Maemo, Android, the iPhone, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, or Openmoko. The various programs distinguish themselves according to key features like if they use raster maps or vector maps, need an Internet connection or can be used offline, support alternate render layers such as cycle paths, support address search or advanced features like routing, thus catering for a large number of different needs for viewing maps. With the inclusion of OpenStreetMap support in several programming libraries for mobile phones, it is also possible to include OSM maps in other location-based service.

Flickr[link]

Yahoo has started using OpenStreetMap data within its Flickr service for various cities around the world, including Baghdad, Beijing, Kabul, Santiago, Sydney and Tokyo.

Foursquare[link]

On 29 February 2012, Foursquare started using OpenStreetMap maps.

Blog/CMS Integration[link]

The WordPress OpenStreetMap plug-in inserts maps and adds geo meta tags to posts / pages of WordPress blogs.

Drupal has multiple OpenStreetMap plug-in modules to integrate database content with OpenStreetMaps.

Joomla also has a variety of OpenStreetMap related modules and plug-ins.

Map data[link]

Map data is available for download in a variety of formats and for different geographical areas: OpenStreetMap OSM CloudMade OSM, Garmin Geofabrik OSM, ESRI

OSM provides information that other map sites don't provide:

Territorial waters

High speed rail in China

Monopoly City Streets[link]

In 2009, Hasbro, the games company behind the property trading board game ''Monopoly'', launched ''Monopoly City Streets'', a massively multiplayer online game which allowed players to "buy" streets all over the world. Although the game used map tiles from Google Maps and the Google Maps API to display the game board, the underlying vector street data was obtained from OpenStreetMap. The online game was meant to be a limited time offering, closing at the end of January 2010.

Haiti earthquake[link]

During the 2010 Haiti earthquake, OpenStreetMap and Crisis Commons volunteers used available satellite imagery to map the roads, buildings and refugee camps of Port-au-Prince in just two days, building "''the most complete digital map of Haiti's roads''".

The resulting data and maps have been used by several organisations providing relief aid, such as the World Bank, the European Commission Joint Research Centre, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNOSAT.

Ways are ordered lists of ''nodes'', representing a polyline, or a polygon if the last node is equal to the first.

Relations are groups of ''nodes'', ''ways'' and other ''relations'' which can be assigned certain properties.

Tags can be applied to ''nodes'', ''ways'' or ''relations'' and consist of ''name=value'' pairs.

Up to version 0.4 of the protocol, an intermediate element between nodes and ways (''segments'', line segments which two node produced) was also used.

Usage of elements[link]

Nodes represent map features without a size, such as points of interest, mountain peaks, or centers of a settlement.

Ways (despite their name) are used both for representing linear features (such as ways and rivers), and for areas (such as forests, parks, parking areas or lakes). Since a way can only define an area as a polygon, it cannot describe an area with a hole (such as a forest with a clearing). This is accomplished with relations.

Relations are used for representing the relationship of existing nodes and ways. Examples include turn restrictions on roads, routes that span several existing ways, and areas with holes.

Tags are used to store metadata about the map objects (such as their type, their name and their physical properties). A recommended ontology of map features (the meaning of ''tags'') is maintained on a wiki.

See also[link]

Collaborative mapping

Counter-mapping

Google Map Maker

Google Maps

Neogeography

OpenLayers

WikiMapia

References[link]

Further reading[link]

OpenStreetMap in the media (2005 to present) (OSM wiki link)

OpenStreetMap in scientific publications (OSM wiki link)

External links[link]

OpenStreetMap - project page with editing interface

OpenStreetBrowser - simple map viewer

OpenStreetMap Foundation

OpenStreetMap Wiki

''Map Compare'' tools.geofabrik.de online-comparison between Google Maps and OpenStreetMap

OpenSource navigation system

Illustrated BBC report about OpenStreetMap helping in Haiti after the earthquake

Evolution of European OpenStreetMap coverage 2006-2010 (video)

OSM 2008: A Year of Edits (video)

Category:Open data Category:Collaborative mapping Category:Distributed computing projects Category:Creative Commons-licensed works Category:Community websites Category:Open content projects Category:OpenStreetMap maps Category:Internet properties established in 2004 Category:Web mapping Category:Web Map Services Category:Wiki communities Category:Maps Category:2004 establishments Category:Free-content websites Category:Geographic information systems Category:Crowdsourcing Category:Geographic information systems organizations

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