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Hi,

I already know Nominatim which gives me address and some (much) more information for a specific location. That's fine but way too much for what I plan to do (and it would cause way too much traffic on Nominatim comparing to what I really need).

So my question: is there a possibility to find out if a given position is located in water or outside? Means can I do a simple check if that position specifies a place on land or sea?

Thanks!

asked 16 Apr '13, 12:00

Satz%20Klauer's gravatar image

Satz Klauer
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accept rate: 0%

Just to clarify, would the middle of a lake count as "land" or "sea"? What about an island in the middle of the lake?

(16 Apr '13, 12:08) SomeoneElse ♦

An island in the middle of a lake would be land.

(16 Apr '13, 12:12) Satz Klauer

There is no ready-made API for this. You have to load the oceans and other water areas into a PostGIS database and write a few lines of glue script (PHP or similar) for that. Rivers could be a little complicated since they are often mapped as linear features; you will want to extend them to areas when populating your database.

permanent link

answered 16 Apr '13, 12:49

Frederik%20Ramm's gravatar image

Frederik Ramm ♦
82.5k927201273
accept rate: 23%

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question asked: 16 Apr '13, 12:00

question was seen: 3,236 times

last updated: 16 Apr '13, 12:49

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