[Tagging] Using Corine Land Cover definitions for land cover in OSM?

Alessandro Sarretta alessandro.sarretta at gmail.com
Sun Oct 20 06:18:29 UTC 2019


I'm not against natural=badlands for areas that are covered by a non 
vegetated surface in an erosive context with steep slopes (as per 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badlands). Anyway they seem to be a more 
specific case than a "simple" bare soil.

I think that, in general, when dealing with land cover things in 
OpenStreetMap, we should really try and use some knowledge from standard 
definitions, e.g. Corine Land Cover CLC). I see that there is already a 
page defining connections between OSM elements and CLC classes [1]

In the case of /badlands/, they are mentioned as one of the examples in 
/3.3.3. Sparsely vegetated areas/ [2].

I'm quite new in discussions about land cover in OSM, but wouldn't it be 
useful to add, in addition to OSM-specific tags like natural=bare_rock, 
natural=shingle,  natural=scree, ... a tag to reference standard land 
cover classification?

I see that a tag /CLC:code /[3] already exists and used more than 300000 
times, but it seems to be used only in case of imports and it is 
suggested (with a very weak motivation, IMHO) to be deleted after 
editing those areas after import.

In the example of badlands, would it be useful to have both 
/natural=badlands /(or any other agreed OSM-spefici tag) + /CLC:code=333 
and//or /land_cover=sparsely_vegetated_areas /?

I see many useful uses coming from this.. but I could be wrong...

Any ideas?

Ale

[1] https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Corine_Land_Cover

[2] 
https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/corine-land-cover-nomenclature-guidelines/html/index-clc-333.html

[3] https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:CLC:code


On 20/10/19 07:31, Joseph Eisenberg wrote:
> Perhaps the term “badlands” is only used in a North America. Wikipedia
> has a description:
>
> "Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and
> clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. ...
> They are characterized by steep slopes, minimal vegetation" and thin
> soil - but not exposed bedrock, usually.
>
> Photo examples:
>
> 1) Chinle Badlands, Utah: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chinle_Badlands.jpg
> 2) Badlands near Coober Pedy in central Australia:
> https://www.alamy.com/the-badlands-area-near-coober-pedy-in-central-australia-image67285952.html
> 3) Drum Badlands, Alberta: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Drumbadlands.jpg
> 4) Las Médulas, Spain:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Panorámica_de_Las_Médulas.jpg
> 5) Valle de la Luna, Argentina:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:P1010357_1.JPG
> 6) Badlands National Park, South Dakota:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Badlands00503.JPG
>
> - Joseph
>
> On Sun, Oct 20, 2019 at 11:14 AM Warin <61sundowner at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 20/10/19 11:19, Joseph Eisenberg wrote:
>>> How should areas of bare soil, such as badlands, be tagged?
>>>
>>> Currently there are documented tags for dry areas of bedrock, stones and sand:
>>>
>>> natural=bare_rock, natural=shingle,  natural=scree, and natural=sand
>>>
>>> For tidal areas, beaches and wetlands there's also natural=beach,
>>> natural=shoal and wetland=mud
>>>
>>> However, there's no documented, common tag for dry areas of exposed
>>> clay, silt or mixed soil.
>>>
>>> natural=badlands has been used 5 times, but this is rather specific
>>> and may not be well-known outside of North America:
>>> https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/natural=badlands
>>>
>>> natural=desert is common, but includes all kinds of vegetated and
>>> unvegetated arid areas; many of these can be tagged with natural=
>>> grassland, heath, scrub, sand, scree etc.
>> Desert is a climate, not a land cover nor a land form. Some deserts include 'lakes'.
>>
>> The key natural has climate, land form and land cover all in the one tagging scheme, I don't think is is a good scheme and would be better separated into the individual things it is trying to tag.
>>
>>> natural=clay has been used twice:
>>> https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/natural=clay
>>>
>>> natural=earth has been used 20 times:
>>> https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/natural=earth
>>>
>>> natural=bare_earth has 23 uses:
>>> https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/natural=bare_earth
>>>
>>> There's also natural=pebbles with 67 uses
>>> (https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/natural=pebbles)
>>> and natural=gravel 90 times -
>>> https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/natural=gravel
>>>
>>> But most of those could be scree or shingle, which would be more specific.
>>>
>>> Would it be best to describe the type of soil, like natural=clay,
>>> =silt, =earth, =pebbles, =gravel?
>> Better to tag specific things rather than a group.
>>
>>> Should mappers use surface=* without another top-level tag?
>> No.
>>
>>> Should natural=bare_earth be used in general for clay and other bare soils?
>>>
>>> Or is natural=badlands best to describe the specific feature of an
>>> arid area where the bare soil is exposed due to erosion?
>> I have no idea of what 'badlands' are .. from your information it is not single land cover nor a land form.
>> So it is a climate? A climate that causes erosion to a bare surface? No vegetation?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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