[OSM-dev] Altitude data & (cycle) route profiles

[Sjors Provoost]

Andy wrote:
>  I urge you as strongly as I can - please DO NOT put SRTM-derived
>  height data into the OSM database.

And Steve wrote:
> I don't think you have explained what the benefits of your solution are?
> What is the benefit of including this data in the OSM database rather than having
> a separate "elevation server" which you can hand a list of lat/lon tuples and get
> a list of elevations derived from the SRTM dataset.

My original idea was to convert the OSM database from 2D to 3D. Each
node would then have not only latitude and longitude, but also
altitude. I would populate the database with an initial guess of this
altitude based on SRTM. Everyone would be free to change them, just
like with latitudes and longitudes. The main advantage is that
altitude would be nothing fundamentally different, which is very
intuitive for me. You have made the disadvantages quite clear, so I
will change my proposal.

So no 3D nodes (and no interpolation). I'll get back to you quickly
with the new version.

Kind regards,

Sjors