included in a lot of mapping programs to measure the distance and bearing. Then place the point referring to your notes about the waypoint offset information.
For highly accurate coordinates of the structure using this offset information, you can use commercial GIS programs like ESRI Arcmap + COGO Extension or Softree Roadeng(Survey). There also exist free utilities to accurately calculate a new coordinate from distance and azimuth, for example Mentor Forward/Inverse or FizzyCalc.
Aimed straight segments method
Another method (much more simple, a little less accurate) is to "draw" two straight segments by GPS traces (walk right towards the object twice from different locations) both pointing at that distant object and then draw two lines through them. The lines will intersect in the object's location.
Main article: Photo mapping
Digital cameras are useful for recording street names, village names, and other features. Because digital photographs are timestamped, we can find out where the photographer was at the time (using their GPS log), and mark that as the photograph location.
In the example here, we might put a postbox on the map, wherever the GPS was at 4:48 pm.
Alternatively, you can use specialized software that will correlate your GPS log to your photos. The GPS information will be added to the metainformation inside the images (most commonly, the EXIF metainfo inside JPGs). That way, you can programmatically have a list of places where you took a photo. OSM software such as JOSM includes support for these "geocoded photographs".
Some software, e.g. TrekBuddy allows one to associate a photograph with a waypoint. This is understood correctly by JOSM.
When geocoding photos, be sure that the camera is in sync with the GPS time (test it before trekking!); otherwise the correlation will be displaced.
- See also: Wikipedia article on geocoded photos
Hand-drawn maps of city streets
|This page is being considered for cleanup. Please discuss this page.
how this is different from walking papers? redlink was here for long time, please review this section
Main article: City mapping
In dense cities, one-way systems and grids of roads, it can be difficult to record the hundreds of street names encountered.
One method is to sketch how the streets intersect (not to scale), and correlate that later with the pattern of tracklogs generated.
Another technique is the two-pass approach, to record tracklogs, then go back with a printed map of street outlines from OSM and fill-in the road names by reading road signs.
A one-pass variant of the two-pass approach is to use aerial imagery (instead of track logs) to make the outline, then print out the untagged segments (i.e. a JOSM screenshot), then go write down road names.
If you don't have lots of space in your paper sheets, consider marking numbers in the print-out, then correlate those numbers to road names (or landmarks) in another sheet of paper.
Main article: Field Papers
User prints black-and-white map of some region and then uses pen/pencil to collect information using text and/or special signs.
This technique is similar to a hand-drawn map, but it gives you a head start with what we already know and you have the option of letting another volunteer edit the map from your notes.
Visit the web site and choose the area where you will be going, print out the OpenStreetMap for that area, then take it with you and make notes on what needs to be changed.
After you are finished making notes for an area, you can choose what to do with them. You can just look at your notes while editing the map normally or you can scan in your notes. After scanning, you, or any other map editor, can edit the map while using your notes on the screen as a backdrop.
Voice recording / Audio mapping
Main article: Audio mapping
Some mappers have found voice recording to be the medium of choice mapping. It's a form rapid data gathering which leaves quite a lot of interpretation work to do later, but it is also quite "hands free", so can be great for mapping by bike for example, avoiding continuous stopping and star