[talk-au] Mapping tracks from Strava heatmap

[Tom Brennan]

My understanding of the Strava heatmap is that it only shows the last 
year's worth of tracking.

The changeset in question was from July 2021, which was around 18 months 
after the fires that swept through the area. The scrub would probably 
have been negotiable then, but less so in recent times. My assumption is 
that the mapper saw a faint heatmap in that area at the time, some of 
which no longer appears as time has moved on.

As mentioned earlier, my general knowledge of the area from 25 years of 
bushwalking suggests there are unlikely to be tracks on the ground other 
than on the major routes.

I agree that heatmaps, particularly faint ones, aren't a justification 
for creating new tracks on the ground. Especially without some 
on-the-ground checks.

cheers
Tom
----
Canyoning? try http://ozultimate.com/canyoning
Bushwalking? try http://bushwalkingnsw.com

On 26/02/2023 10:19 pm, Ewen Hill wrote:
> Hi,
>    Having a look at the Strava heat map, I can't see any activity at 
> all. Select labels and hybrid to see the OSM layer,
> https://www.strava.com/heatmap#17.00/150.12413/-33.87746/hot/all 
> <https://www.strava.com/heatmap#17.00/150.12413/-33.87746/hot/all>
> https://www.strava.com/heatmap#15.99/150.14939/-33.91318/hot/all 
> <https://www.strava.com/heatmap#15.99/150.14939/-33.91318/hot/all>
> 
> Nor can I see any sort of trail using the imagery available to us and 
> the fact that one of the paths clearly crosses a cliff is showing it 
> doesn't exist so Is this mapping from a bushfire response or where a 
> cool burn took place with  small 4wd track or firebreak or was the 
> editor thinking something existed?
> 
> To take Tony's comment about ground truthing... I have recently been 
> looking for supposed osm tracks in a particular area without success 
> however the strava heatmap now shows my meanderings around these now 
> removed trails so while the Strava heat layer is fantastic for aligning 
> known tracks, it shouldn't be used for the creation of new tracks 
> without other validation and I do get geographically challenged in the 
> bush... a lot!
> 
> Ewen
> 
> 
> 
> On Sun, 26 Feb 2023 at 20:55, Tom Brennan <website at ozultimate.com 
> <mailto:website at ozultimate.com>> wrote:
> 
>     Sorry, my bad! I should have linked the "track" on the other side of
>     Whalania Creek:
>     https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/963735356
>     <https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/963735356>
> 
>     cheers
>     Tom
>     ----
>     Canyoning? try http://ozultimate.com/canyoning
>     <http://ozultimate.com/canyoning>
>     Bushwalking? try http://bushwalkingnsw.com <http://bushwalkingnsw.com>
> 
>     On 26/02/2023 8:20 pm, forster at ozonline.com.au
>     <mailto:forster at ozonline.com.au> wrote:
>      > Hi
>      >
>      > Am I missing something? I looked at way 952248376 and found a user
>      > Pieseczek with 2 changesets and 4 new ways over a year old. If
>     there was
>      > any reference to Strava heat maps then I missed it. Is there any
>      > indication whether Pieseczek is resident in Australia apart from the
>      > likely origin of the name?
>      >
>      > If the ways are solely based on heatmaps, they should be deleted
>     because
>      > they can not be ground truthed. But they appear to map ridge
>     lines. Were
>      > they made from the satellite photos or contours? Ridge lines can be
>      > ground truthed and belong on OSM.
>      >
>      > I agree with Cleary on mapping of illegal trails but that may not be
>      > relevant in this case.
>      >
>      > Tony
>      >
>      >> Do people have a view on the armchair mapping of tracks from Strava
>      >> heatmaps?
>      >>
>      >> I can see a bunch of tracks in Kanangra-Boyd NP that have been
>     mapped
>      >> by an overseas mapper off Strava heatmap.
>      >>
>      >> They almost certainly don't exist on the ground. They are known
>      >> bushwalking routes (off track), but would be very unlikely to have a
>      >> track even in good times, let along after the fires and 3 years
>     of La
>      >> Nina!
>      >>
>      >> Example:
>      >> https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/952248376
>     <https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/952248376>
>      >>
>      >> cheers
>      >> Tom
>      >> ----
>      >> Canyoning? try http://ozultimate.com/canyoning
>     <http://ozultimate.com/canyoning>
>      >> Bushwalking? try http://bushwalkingnsw.com
>     <http://bushwalkingnsw.com>
>      >>
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> 
> -- 
> Warm Regards
> 
> Ewen Hill
>