Bell Island, Newfoundland has now been practically fully mapped. There were some features that I was not able to fully map since it would have required local knowledge, however I’m happy with the extent of what was able to be mapped based off of satellite imagery alone.

With some reflection I think the scope of this project was quite large but still manageable since I didn’t put any strict timelines on myself. In the future I’ll likely choose slightly smaller scale projects where the whole thing can be wrapped up within a couple of months. In the interim I’ll probably map some of the smaller islets around Conception Bay.

At this point I’ve officially mapped out half of Bell Island, Newfoundland. Although I’m geographically halfway, the southern portion which I’ve mapped out is much less geospatially dense than the northern portion, so I’d estimate I’m about a third of the way through this project.

The ID Editor has been very intuitive so far in this process, and I have also learned a bit on how to use the JOSM editor for more specific geospatial processes. One thing I have yet to figure out is the display order of overlapping features, however I believe this is tweaked through the relations mechanic in the ID editor.

So far the minimal existing geospatial data that is present in this area has been accurate for the most part, with only slight alterations required to match the current satellite data that I’m basing my new features off of. That being said, quality varies, and it’s clear that some of these features were one-off additions by likely inexperienced users.

I think I’ll be able to keep up this mapping pace for the foreseeable future, so this project will hopefully get within the mopping up phase within a couple of months.

After spending a bit of time mapping and getting a feel for the scope, type of work this project will require, it’s clear that this project will unsurprisingly take quite a bit of time.

To make this process as engaging as possible, I think it would be wise to alter my workflow slightly. Initially, I planned to start with only mapping buildings for the entire island. However this would mean hours and hours of monotony, so I think a good workaround here is to keep my current workflow structure, but just apply it to a smaller scale. For example, I’ll pick smaller sections of the island to do both the building and the terrain mapping. This will give the work more variety and also make it more clear which areas I’ve already worked on.

Project Outline

This entry is a statement of my intention to map out Bell Island, Newfoundland. I will start south and move my way north as the south is less densely detailed and work will likely be quicker. My intended workflow is stated below, where I will not move on to the next item on the list until the first item has been mapped as thoroughly as possible on the entire island. While I am experienced at working with geospatial data, this is my first project on OSM so any suggestions/comments on my work are appreciated.

I will provide updates through future diary entries as my work progresses. This is a casual project so I am not setting any timelines.

Workflow

1. Buildings & associated roads
2. Terrain
3. (Might drop due to lack of local knowledge) Secondary urban & rural characteristics (cemeteries, parking lots, etc.)