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How can I take geometric data with me, out in the field, on my Android tablet?

I have been looking long and hard at the Bing imagery of an area of forest, and used JOSM to draw the outlines of some areas where the forest looks... different (but not yet uploaded it). Now I'm going to climb into my hiking boots and head out into the area and try to find out what those areas actually are on the ground (Fir instead of pine? Younger trees? Bogs? I don't know!) so I can tag them properly. What is a good way of getting those areas onto my Android tablet (for offline use!) so that I can see when I walk into them? Something that shows a background map, and lets me add vector overlays from, say, a GeoJSON or KML file?

(I already have them printed on a paper map with a grid, so that I can cross-reference manually with GPS coordinates.)

(This question is technically not about OSM, but I imagine there must be others who have done this kind of combination of armchair and boots-on-the-ground mapping.)

asked 09 Aug '17, 12:43

turepalsson's gravatar image

turepalsson
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accept rate: 25%


http://vespucci.io/ will allow you to read data generated by JOSM and save it back to a JOSM compatible file (naturally you can simply use the original OSM data and save back to OSM if you don't absolutely have to process in JOSM).

There are a number of non-OSM GIS survey apps that will likely allow you to load GEOjson or KML, but if you want to update tags etc. you will likely just end up doing the work twice.

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answered 09 Aug '17, 13:53

SimonPoole's gravatar image

SimonPoole ♦
44.7k13326701
accept rate: 18%

edited 09 Aug '17, 15:31

At the very least Vespucci is useful for seeing how things are tagged. For complex stuff I tend to add notes rather than edit in the field.

(09 Aug '17, 16:32) SK53 ♦

Following up almost a year later: Vespucci now supports GeoJSON overlays. Yay! :)

(11 Jul '18, 09:01) turepalsson

Another option is to export from JOSM a GPX file with waypoints in the areas in question, and then import it into any GPX-capable mapping software on your mobile. (I use OsmAnd and Vespucci, but anything works.)

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answered 09 Aug '17, 20:39

dsh4's gravatar image

dsh4
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accept rate: 4%

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question asked: 09 Aug '17, 12:43

question was seen: 1,832 times

last updated: 11 Jul '18, 09:01

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