User:Houtari

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I'm a Helsinki based mapper (OSM profile) who's mapping mainly in my home country Finland, where my special areas of interest are the Helsinki Region, Kuhmo municipality in the Kainuu Region & Äkäslompolo village in Lapland. I also try to participate in Humanitarian OpenStreetMap mapping events whenever possible.

I joined the OSM community in July 2014 to see what OSM was all about although I didn't submit my first contribution until January 2016 inspired by the OSM Finland 2016 Meeting. OSM Foundation member since 2018. You might also occasionally spot me at different State of the Map events.

Contacts

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Github

Projects

Here's a list of personal OSM-projects (validation tools & data edits) I've been working on lately.

Finland

• Map
  • Milk churn stands (maitolaituri) - with man_made=milk_churn_stand preferably as building polygons.
    • Youtube video | overpass query | umap
  • Windmills (tuulimylly) - with man_made=windmill preferably as building polygons. Not to be confused with wind turbines (tuulivoimala).
    • Milldatabase Finland | overpass query | umap
  • Workout stairs (kuntoportaat) - with highway=steps & sport=*
    • Pääkaupunkiseudun kuntoportaat | YLE-kuntoportaat kartalla | LIPAS - liikuntapaikat | overpass query | umap
  • Hiking routes as proper relations - with route=hiking.
    • luontoon.fi | retkikartta.fi | overpass query | waymarkedtrails.org
  • Cross country skiing tracks - with piste:type=nordic. Do also use piste:type=connection to create a routable skiing network at eg. road crossings. Ski routing is available in OpenSnowMap.
    • ladulle.fi | Overpass queries : Helsinki, Kuhmo & Äkäslompolo | openskimap.org | opensnowmap.org
  • Disc golf courses - with leisure=disc_golf_course if possible do add holes, tees & baskets as well. See wiki for more detailed instructions.
    • frisbeegolfradat.fi | overpass query | planetdg.com
  • Sport club houses & offices. Add club houses with amenity=community_centre, community_centre=club_home and club=sport. Add club offices with office=association and club=sport. In both cases you can also add details like website=* & operator=*.
    • Overpass queries : club houses & club offices
  • Train station buildings with building=train_station. You should use this tag eventhough the building is no longer used as a station. This script helps you to locate stations with no station building in their vicinity. This doesn't however give you all the answers. Some old station buildings may be destroyed and some stations may just simply not have a station building. Some old stations may also no longer have a station status eventhough there is a station building, probably nowadays in some other use eg.residential.
    • Luettelo Suomen rautatieliikennepaikoista | Asemarakennukset | Rautatieasemat kartalla | overpass query | umap
  • Rest areas along higways with either highway=rest_area (for larger areas) or amenity=parking + parking=layby (for small bus stop like parking bays along the side of the road).
    • Väylävirasto palvelualuekartta | Overpass queries : rest areas & layby parking | umap (There's something wrong with the levähdysalueet-layer)

• Improve
  • Transform milk churn stand nodes to building area polygons, with building=* eg. building=shelter.
  • Transform windmill nodes to building area polygons, remember to specify building=windmill.
  • Add missing sport=* to workout stairs. Find the stairs that are missing sport=* but have the string "kuntoportaat" in their name with this script.
  • Improve disc golf courses. Find possibly missing disc_golf_courses (baskets far from disc_golf_courses) with this script or find disc_golf_courses without baskets (disc_golf_courses far from baskets) with this script.
  • Add missing name=* and why not also other things like start_date=* and wikipedia=* to train station buildings. Find those that are missing names with this script.
  • Create proper relations for cycling velodromes, track & field or horse racing tracks tagged with leisure=track or find running paths (kuntopolku/pururata) with unnecessary leisure=track that could be replaced with route relation. Find these ways with this script. Note! Some might be false positives eg. tracks for sprint runing, long jumping etc.
  • Add opening_hours=* to major shops (supermarket & convenience). This script shows where these are missing.
  • Add access=permit on all highway=* objects within the border zone (Rajavyöhyke) between Finland and Russia. Find highways that don't have access tag with this script - also fix those with access=no. Note that border crossing between Finland & Russia is nowadays not allowed so access=no is the right tagging for these sections.
  • Assist with local map notes.

• Fix
  • Remove generic route names like "luontopolku", "luontoreitti", "retkeilypolku", "retkeilyreitti", "vaellusreitti", "pururata", "kuntorata", "kuntopolku", "latu" , "ulkoilureitti" as these are no official names of the path, way or road. Replace them if possible with real route relations. Will probably need some local knowledge to sort these out.
  • Fix highways with Finnish name tags in municipalities with Swedish as their major language. In these municipalities name=* should be in Swedish. Find those errors with this script. Find the 15 municipalities with Swedish as the major language here.
  • Fix unconventional tagging. Find unusual and original tagging with the national taginfo and look up tag values that are used only once, twice or just a few times. Here eg. value numbers for amenity=*.
  • Opening Hours tagging : This web app shows these tagging errors.

Helsinki

• Digitransit
  • Firstly do check the Digitransit data validation page for an extensive list of data validation tips in the HSL region.

• Map
  • Street lamps in the city center - with highway=street_lamp. See also Street Lamp Map for details.
  • Missing buildings. This map shows buildings in the National Land Survey data that aren't in OSM. Here are the same buildings as raw data. Note that this might contain so called false positives as OSM might already at some places be better up to date than NLS data.
  • Entrances of apartment buildings - with entrance=*. This script shows the apartment buildings that are missing entrances.

• Improve
  • Add missing building types. Find missing building types with this script.
  • Add missing addresses to residential and holiday buildings. Find missing building addresses with this script.
  • Move address information from single address nodes to buildings wherever possible. Find single address node with this script.
  • Add opening_hours=* to shops. This script shows where these are missing.
  • Add Swedish names to places.
    • Find places that are missing Swedish names on the map by looking at the Swedish basemap for Digitransit.
    • Optionally locate missing translations on the map with these Overpass Queries ...
      • highway : https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1UHM (highway=*)
      • amenity : https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1V1o (marketplace,library,theatre,conference_centre,courthouse,townhall)
      • leisure : https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1V1p (park,sports_centre,stadium)
      • tourism : https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1V1q (museum,zoo,theme_park)
      • building : https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1V1r (church,cathedral)
      • office : https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1UHQ (government)
      • historic : https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1UHU (monument)
      • place : https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1V1s (island,square)
      • natural : https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1V1t (bay,strait,water)
    • Also add missing translations to objects not visible in Digitransit basemap with these Overpass Queries ...
      • office : https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/29QG (diplomatic)
  • Add English names to places.
    • Find places that are missing English names on the map by looking at the English basemap for Digitransit.
  • Add missing tracktype=* to highway=track. Find where those are missing with this script.
  • Assist with local fixme-requests or map notes. Find the fixme-tagged objects with this script and map notes with this view.

• Fix
  • School tagging errors
    • amenity=school shouldn't be tagged on buildings. This script shows these tagging errors ... https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1OgB
    • amenity=school should have a name. This script shows those that don't ... https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1OgC
  • hospital tagging errors
    • amenity=hospital shouldn't be tagged on buildings. This script shows these tagging errors ... https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1OgD
    • amenity=hospital should have a name. This script shows those that don't ... https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1OgE

Kainuu

• Map
  • School Buildings with building=school. You should use this tag eventhough the building is no longer used as a school.
    • Luettelo Kainuun kansakouluista | overpass query

• Improve
  • Transform lean-to shelter (laavu) nodes to building area polygons. Find the shelter nodes with this script.

• Fix
  • Remove or retag ways with no tags. Most of them are a result of a former import.
  • Fix bus stop locations of imported features. These bus stops are part of a Digiroad bus stop import.
  • Rest areas along highways should be tagged either highway=rest_area or parking=layby. Many of these are just tagged amenity=parking probably just because they're signed on the ground with P-signs and many instictively associate that with a parking area. These can continue to be tagged with amenity=parking but then they should be tagged as parking=layby as well. Bigger rest areas should be tagged with highway=rest_area. This script shows parking areas that don't have the highway tag or the defining parking=layby tag. Check and correct these along bigger highways.

Kuhmo

• Map
  • Street lamps in the city center - with highway=street_lamp. See also Street Lamp Map for details.
  • Vehicle passing places on narrow minor roads - with highway=passing_place.
  • Kuhmo buildings based on National Land Survey Data. I've created a MapRoulette challenge for that.
  • Add wetland=* to forest areas. The areas where these are missing can be located with this script
  • Entrances of apartment & terrace buildings - with entrance=*. This script shows the apartment & terrace buildings that are missing entrances.

• Improve
  • Add missing building types. Find missing building types with this script.
  • Add missing addresses to residential and holiday buildings. Find missing building addresses with this script.
  • Add lit=* on major highway=* objects. This script indicates where these are missing.
  • Add surface=* on major highway=* objects. This script indicates where these are missing.
  • Add surface=* on all highway=* objects. Overpass surface visualisation.
  • Separate forest areas and water bodies (islands/islets). They are different entities and shouldn't be combined.
    • Searching for forest areas that have a name is a good way to start and find the ones to prioritize fixing because the name refers most probably to the island/islet and is rendered as a forest name which isn't as well visualised in the OSM map style as the island name rendering. This script might find some false positives but might also find some issues that the scripts below doesn't.
    • landuse=forest & place=islet
    • landuse=forest & place=island
    • natural=wood & place=islet
    • natural=wood & place=island
  • Improve accuracy by replacing man_made=cutline in combination with power lines with larger natural=scrub areas. Find the cutlines with this script.
  • Change natural=wood to landuse=forest. natural=wood refers to woodland areas with limited or no forestry management so I guess the only places that fit this criteria are protected areas like national parks. Most should therefore be landuse=forest. This script shows the areas with natural=wood.
  • Add missing tracktype=* to highway=track. Find where those are missing with this script.
  • Assist with local fixme-requests or map notes. Find the fixme-tagged objects with this script and map notes with this view.

• Fix
  • Replace intermittent=* with natural=wetland. Find the objects to change with this script.
  • Check and specify picnic_sites created by xronos_nlsfi_import. An import that created duplicates with existing leisure=firepit objects. Based on local knowledge there is very seldom a structure on site - mostly just a simple firepit.

Digitransit in Kainuu

Here's a shortlist of things to check out in order to ensure that the OSM data in the Kainuu area is OK to be used with digitransit. This list is based on the documentation on the OSM wiki digitransit validation page and the use cases are explained in detail here.

area	Hyrynsalmi	Kajaani	Kuhmo	Paltamo	Puolanka	Ristijärvi	Sotkamo	Suomussalmi
OSM Map notes	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
doubled places (keepright)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
overlapping buildings (osmose)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
unconnected nodes (osmi)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
routing islands (osmi)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
routing graph (Digitransit)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
deprecated tags (keepright)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
construction=yes on highways (overpass)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
POI without name (keepright)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
address problems (osmose)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
address conflicts (osmose)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
missing road name (overpass)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
road name conflicts (overpass)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
path with name tag (overpass)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
logical routing errors (overpass)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
missing house numbers (osm-regio)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
park_ride without station (overpass)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
missing park_ride tag (overpass)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link
stations without park_ride (overpass)	link	link	link	link	link	link	link	link

Äkäslompolo

• Map
  • Street lamps - with highway=street_lamp. See also Street Lamp Map for details.
  • Map cottages/holiday homes
    • Start with adding building polygon with building=bungalow and possible name=*. You can also add entrance=* and address information.
    • If you know it's rentable add tourism=chalet and website=* if known.
    • If it's just a rentable holiday home that's just a small part of the whole building then place a node within the building with tourism=chalet and add name=* and website=* if possible.
    • Also consider using a separate landuse=commercial polygon if there's a larger area or group of rentable holiday homes with the same owner/operator in an area. You can also add name=* if these or the area have a common name.
    • chalet overpass query | bungalow overpass query

• Improve
  • Add missing building types. Find missing building types with this script.
  • Add missing addresses to residential and holiday buildings. Find missing building addresses with this script.
  • Add lit=* on major highway=* objects. This script indicates where these are missing.
  • Add surface=* on major highway=* objects. This script indicates where these are missing.
  • Add surface=* on all highway=* objects. Overpass surface visualisation.
  • Add missing tracktype=* to highway=track. Find where those are missing with this script.
  • Assist with local fixme-requests or map notes. Find the fixme-tagged objects with this script and map notes with this view.

• Fix
  • Remove or retag ways with no tags.

Russia

• Add missing Finnish place names in areas that formerly belonged to Finland using the OSM Localization Tool

Worldwide

• Map
  • Sport club fan shops with shop=fan and fan=sport. You can also add sport with sport=* and club name withoperator=*.

• Improve
  • Add missing fan=sport to sport club fan shops. Find the fan shops that are missing fan=* with this script.
  • Add name:fi to sea areas without Finnish name. Find them with this script.

• Fix
  • Disc golf tagging errors : golf=* shouldn't be used on disc golf courses. This script shows some of these tagging errors. Note that there's an active issue about adding these to the OSM-carto rendering.

Future project ideas

• Map sport=swimming + natural=beach | leisure=beach_resort | leisure=swimming_pool | leisure=sports_hall | leisure=swimming_area | leisure=bathing_place | winter_swimming?
• Map leisure=sauna + access=*
• Map roller_ski = *

Tools

Editing both with JOSM and ID. For mobile mapping I'm mainly using Organic maps, Every Door (GeoScribble) & StreetComplete. Also experimenting with MapComplete & OsmAnd-editors. I have also been using Mapillary to collect street view images to support my OSM edits.

Work

I work as a GIS specialist at Helsinki Region Transport (HSL) where my work account is HSL_HRT). See our organisation wiki for further information on how and why we work with OSM.

Stats

• How have I contributed to OpenStreetMap?
• Where have I contributed to OpenStreetMap?

See also

• The use of OSM in public transport in Helsinki Finland, presentation @ State of the Map 2018
• OpenStreetMap lähialueen kartoituksessa kartta.nyt-webinar, 10.4.2019 (video)
• Viranomainen OSM-yhteisössä (case HSL), State of the Map Suomi 2020, 26.9.2020
• OpenStreetMapin perusteet, Helsinki Loves Developers : Kartat ja paikkatieto tutuiksi, 15.4.2021 (video)

Other crowdsourcing projects

• Wikimedia
• Wikipedia