Data Improvements in Morocco and Western Sahara

[awisemanapple]

Task Description

This task outlines work to improve the road network in both Morocco and Western Sahara.

Improvements that will be addressed include the following:

• Correcting road connectivity issues
• Improving road classification consistency according to local and OSM guidelines
• Adding missing roads
• Correcting road alignment issues
• Other one-off fixes

Mapping Guidelines

The team will follow OSM and local policy, along with any other guidelines as appropriate.

The team will use the imagery and data sources specified below as needed for mapping in the country.

When in doubt, the team will use the existing tags and data which are used locally. The history in JOSM (ctrl-H) identifies what previous mappers added and their notes and/or explanations regarding changes made. This history can also show if a previous mapper has visited that area or has expert knowledge or sources. We also contacted the talk-ma email list.

Our team uses the hashtag #adt (for Apple Data Team) for our edits.

Area of Focus

Roads throughout the country.

Tools

The team will use JOSM for completing the task. JOSM has validation warnings for road networks and other possible issues that are important to prevent improper changes.

Sources

• DigitalGlobe Standard/Premium
• Bing imagery
• Mapbox imagery
• ESRI imagery
• HOT task imagery, if any
• Mapillary
• OpenStreetCam
• Pic4Carto
• Telenav's MissingRoads plugin and ImproveOSM
• Strava and OSM GPS traces

The team will apply image offsets as needed.

Ferry data

Apple is releasing data on ferry terminal and line information missing from OSM in Morocco. This contribution is made available for use under the OpenStreetMap ODbL license. The data includes ferry terminals with names of ferry lines, whether the ferry is for cars, and the direction of the ferry, if applicable. We will confirm that the ferry exists and the terminal location is correct, and if missing we will add those to OSM and estimate the ferry route. Some of the ferry routes may connect to other countries. The data includes starting and ending points at ferry terminals but not the specific routes between them. When we use the data we will cite it in the OSM changeset source tag.

Changeset Comments

The team will provide changeset comments that are in compliance with OSM changeset guidelines.

Error Detection

The team will check for errors visually and using JOSM validation warnings prior to committing the changeset.

In addition, the team will review its work in accordance with validation guidelines such as the OSM Wiki and LearnOSM validation guidelines

Things you can do

If you'd like to help, here are a few ideas:

• Add missing road names that you know. Here is a tool to identify them
• Fix issues using OSM Inspector
• Let us know in the comments if there are areas with new construction or other issues

Contributors

• Data Team

MapRoulette

We have also posted MapRoulette challenges related to the road network: https://maproulette.org/browse/projects/39481

For more information

Our community lead is Teddy Ahlvin and our editing leads are Jon Westlake and Erica Olson.
To get in touch with Teddy, you can email or contact him via OSM.

All of our leads can be reached via email.

OSM Wiki

[mfrasca]

something specific to oases: if you consider the the Draa valley, or the Ziz, or Toudgha, wherever they have oases, these are almost continuously flanked by distinct settlements, each dominating and living thanks to part of the oasis. the oases are criss-crossed by paths and tracks, but also by minor dirt roads that should be tagged as 'highway=unclassified', for they connect settlements on opposed parts of the oasis, and they can be easily used by bike and motorbike.

I'm based this on my observations in and around Tinghir, where I lived for roughly one month in 2016.

[awisemanapple]

Thanks, this is good to know! I appreciate it.