[OHM] Mapping the NY Metro Region's Historic Wetlands

[David Riordan]

This looks like a remarkable project. Have you seen if there are any
pre-rectified wetlands materials in the NYPL Map Warper
[http://maps.nypl.org/warper]?

On 9/25/15 15:26, SK53 wrote:
> Hi Sanjay,
>
> A timely query. We were discussing only on Tuesday about the use-cases
> for mapping historical ecological data. This example of course
> reflects lots of them (wetlands as buffers in extreme events; as
> components of water quality; and in some parts of the world sources of
> disease).
>
> Again we discussed on Tuesday ideas for getting communities involved.
> I have been thinking about this over the past few days and realise
> that the scheme used by Humanitarian mappers, Missing Maps, and the
> smaller get-togethers under the MapTIme banner both represent models
> for getting a group of people to map specific things allowing
> straightforward training, coaching & mentoring. Another, rather
> different, approach is the Irish Townland mapping project, which
> involves rectifying 1:25k maps covering Ireland (80,000+ sq km) and
> drawing 60,000 small administrative units from them.
>
> Currently the OHM community is quite small and many of us have
> multiple commitments to existing projects and related OSM activities
> (for instance I am doing some specific things in the context of the
> townlands project), so I don't think we are a great pool of tracers.
> The much larger OSM communities do have many more people who are
> looking for such challenges. I'd perhaps start by seeing if MapTime
> New York <http://www.meetup.com/Maptime-NYC/> might be interested in
> giving you a slot.
>
> Now for some of the technical problems/issues:
>
>   * OHM requires that each tagged object natural=wetland is also
>     marked with a start_date & end_date.
>   * It is generally valuable to use a tag which identifies the
>     apparent as_of date of the wetland (i.e., based on underlying
>     map), this makes querying easier). This also makes it easier to
>     filter data in some editors.
>   * It is easier to map something multiple times in different time
>     periods rather than try & reconcile an object across from many
>     source maps. (At least this is true until one has lots of such
>     things).
>   * Coastlines may create problems. This is because of the OSM way of
>     handling coastlines is inelegant. I do have some ideas about how
>     to approach this, but haven't taken them forward yet: the
>     coastline of the River Plate changed dramatically in the late 19th
>     C so affecting stuff I have done with Buenos Aires).
>   * Use meta tags (source etc.) copiously; they will be the only
>     evidence of someone's interpretation of the sources. Ultimately
>     other info like photos, paintings and documentary evidence may
>     need to be incorporated.
>
> Use of any of the Map Warper websites (NYPL, MapWarper & WikiMedia)
> for rectification would ensure that warped maps are readily available
> in the editors, and following the Townlands model can also be
> crowd-sourced.
>
> It may also be worth looking at semi-automated tracing if the map
> quality permits such an approach.
>
> HTH,
>
> Jerry Clough
>
>
>
>
> On 25 September 2015 at 19:43, Sanjay Seth <sanjay at rpa.org
> <mailto:sanjay at rpa.org>> wrote:
>
>     Dear OHM Community – 
>
>     I hope you are all doing well. I’m a researcher at an urban policy
>     think-tank based in NYC. We are looking at long-term coastal
>     adaptation strategies –  and are working to map out the NY
>     metropolitan region’s historic wetlands, which we will use (in
>     addition to projected future wetlands) to inform those strategies. 
>
>     I’m new to the OHM community, but would like to gauge the interest
>     in taking this on together as a group tracing effort. I have
>     hundreds of historic maps from NOAA, starting from 1830’s onward,
>     that would be relatively straightforward to trace, once they were
>     georeferenced. We’re in the process of georefererencing the lot
>     right now. I just don’t have the people-power to trace out
>     thousands of wetlands on my own. 
>
>     If this sounds like a project you are interested in – or want to
>     just hear more about – let me know. Thanks and feel free to get in
>     touch at sanjay at rpa.org <mailto:sanjay at rpa.org> or (917) 546-4327
>     <tel:%28917%29%20546-4327>. 
>
>     Best wishes,
>     Sanjay
>
>     *—*
>
>     *Sanjay Seth* | Research Analyst 
>
>     Regional Plan Association
>
>     (917) 546-4327 <tel:%28917%29%20546-4327> | rpa.org <http://rpa.org>
>
>
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