[OSM-talk] Some guidelines on Africover data?

[Grant Slater]

Hi Joseph,

I've been cleaning up some of the Africover, mostly bound within the
DRC borders.

The import seems to have been fairly messy.

<snip>
> There is no source tag on the data that exists, only an AUTO_ID tag;
> an example way can be seen in 37424303 [3], although many more exist.
> I'm guessing that the AUTO_ID refers to a Africover reference system
> that has survived the import, whilst OSM specific tags need to be
> applied.
>
> Is there any reference available for telling what such ways should be
> tagged as? I'm worried that some may be rivers, in some cases possible
> dupes [4]. With a list to refer to, could ways such as this be tagged
> as highway:road or waterway:river, source:Africover when found?
> Leaving the AUTO_IDs would seem to be a good idea for now.
>

I generally replace the AUTO_ID with a highway = road. The AUTO_ID is
now worthless data to have in the OSM system, we have moved on from
the original import. I'd say add source=Africover on the ways if you
like. Best to strip it on nodes. The amount of GPS (GPX) data coverage
is improving, especially in Southern Africa, so always compare. I
always give existing data preference over Africover. If the Africover
data feels VERY wrong, I think it is best to remove it rather than
disrupt future (local) mapping efforts.

Some of the ways also seem to be railways. Many Central & East African
railways are being revived due to renewed interest in Africa's mineral
wealth and Chinese interest.

I tag with brain activated :-) Even Landsat helps. Some major African
cities do have Yahoo! aerial imagery.

Regards
 Grant