[OSM-talk] Decline in accuracy of capture date metadata in Bing imagery

Bryan Housel bryan at 7thposition.com
Wed Jul 26 14:48:27 UTC 2017


Hey this is a topic that I care about - It turns out, you are already chipping in some money for high resolution orthoimagery!

OK state Geographic Information Council
http://okmaps.onenet.net/index.html <http://okmaps.onenet.net/index.html>

OK state GIS Portal:
https://okmaps.org/OGI/search.aspx <https://okmaps.org/OGI/search.aspx>

The NAIP 2015 layer "provides 1 meter GSD ortho imagery rectified within +/- 6 meters to true ground at a 95% confidence level. “ 

This is not spectacular resolution, but it is good enough for rough tracing in editors, and would at least give you a more recent alternative to Bing.

---

What aerial imagery exists?

Here is some info about high resolution orthoimagery in the United States.  The following statements are mostly true:

- States collect imagery every few years.
- They are supposed to do this to support the NAIP (National Aerial Imagery Program), a USDA program
- The imagery is 1meter/pixel or better. 
- It’s getting better all the time.  Some is even 6” or 3” in urban areas.
- Every state has a government GIS portal / WMS server where you can look for this information
- You might have to dig through government websites to find what you’re looking for, it’s not simple
- It’s generally public, but you might have to contact someone to get explicit permission to use it for OSM
- It was all supposed to be combined onto the USGS National Map, but this program is being shut down / defunded.

---

What can you do to help?

We collect this imagery data here:
https://github.com/osmlab/editor-layer-index <https://github.com/osmlab/editor-layer-index>

Once it is added to the editor layer index, it will be available in iD and other editors.

There is lots of public imagery out there, but we need volunteers to:

1. find it in the first place
2. contact state GIS agencies for permission, if the website does not make license clear
3. figure out whether the WMS server can serve the imagery (some serve TMS/WTMS tiles that can be consumed directly in iD, others serve WMS which can sometimes be proxied)
4. add the source to editor-layer-index, along with a boundary polygon where the imagery is valid.

In conclusion, please follow the editor-layer-index project, and help add the public imagery (that you are already paying for) to the OSM editors!

Thanks, Bryan



> On Jul 26, 2017, at 6:10 AM, Paul Johnson <baloo at ursamundi.org> wrote:
> 
> On Tue, Jul 25, 2017 at 5:48 PM, Clifford Snow <clifford at snowandsnow.us <mailto:clifford at snowandsnow.us>> wrote:
> A contact in Microsoft said that the Bing imagery is made up of multiple images which results in the date range. 
> 
> The imagery we are getting has improved over time, although it seems at a snails pace. I'm sure if we were paying for imagery we would have different requirements. Bing probably wants nice looking - with lots of green vegetation. Our needs would be better served by leaf off imagery. So if someone wants to start fund raising, we could have imagery that better fits our needs. 
> 
> I would be willing to chip in some money to get updated high resolution imagery for metro Tulsa and eastern Oklahoma.  Latest imagery available for the area's already in Bing and it's 2011-2013 vintage stock at this point.  Between the renaissance of Tulsa and many small towns in the region, 1 new town built and incorporated, and 3 or 4 towns that went bust and are in the process of being torn down and recycled for materials, that imagery's not far from being unusably old.
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