In this chapter, we'll look at the tools and techniques used by the OpenStreetMap community to gather data using GPS, and upload it to the website, including:
What the Global Positioning System is, and how it works
How to set up your GPS receiver for surveying
How to get the best signal, and more accurate positioning
How to tell a good GPS trace from a bad one
Ways of ensuring your survey is comprehensive
Other ways of recording information while surveying
We'll also look at a couple of ways of gathering information without needing a GPS receiver.
OpenStreetMap is made possible by two technological advances: Relatively affordable, accurate GPS receivers, and broadband Internet access. Without either of these, the job of building an accurate map from scratch using crowdsourcing would be so difficult that it almost certainly wouldn't work.
Much of OpenStreetMap's data is based on traces gathered by volunteer mappers, either while they're going about their daily...