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How do you tag salt lakes?

asked 17 Nov '10, 23:53

ALE's gravatar image

ALE
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edited 26 Nov '10, 09:11

TomH's gravatar image

TomH ♦♦
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You can try natural=desert and desert=salt as salt lakes are really deserts made of salt instead of sand or rocks.

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answered 18 Nov '10, 06:29

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Gnonthgol ♦
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The Uyuni Salt Lake in Bolivia is tagged like this. See: http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=9/-19.9462/-67.2281

(20 Jan '14, 18:07) ALE

But that doesn't seem to be rendered on osm.org . I know, don't tag for the render - but it seems strange to tag a salt flat which inundates every year as a desert...

(06 May '15, 12:23) joost schouppe

Under wetland you can find wetland=saltern and wetland=saltmarsh - if that fits...

Note:

  • The Great Salt Lake is tagged as natural=water...
  • If you tag salt lakes as wetland they are not rendered in zoomlevels greater than 11...
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answered 18 Nov '10, 15:03

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edited 21 Nov '10, 05:35

A salt lake is not necessarily a desert. It is more the prephase of a dry lake which could probably be classified as a desert. Therefore, I would rather use something like natural=water water=salt_lake. But I am not really an expert in this.

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answered 18 Nov '10, 08:46

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ALE
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edited 20 Jan '14, 18:06

Looks like natural=water, salt=yes http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:salt

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answered 06 May '15, 15:43

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neuhausr
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That looks fine for "a salty lake". But in the mentioned Uyuni Salt Flat for example, most of the time it's a salt desert. Then the rains come and it turns into a very shallow lake for a few months of the year.

(06 May '15, 20:14) joost schouppe
1

@joost In that case it's a salt pan and not a salt lake, isn't it? For salt pans natural=desert + desert=salt should be used, see Gnonthgol's answer.

(06 May '15, 20:52) scai ♦

should this question be edited if it's not really asking about salt lakes?

(06 May '15, 20:57) neuhausr
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question asked: 17 Nov '10, 23:53

question was seen: 6,414 times

last updated: 06 May '15, 20:57

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum