Title: Analysing OpenStreetMap data for topological errors

Authors: Sukhjit Singh Sehra; Jaiteg Singh; Hardeep Singh Rai

Addresses: I.K.G. Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, Punjab, India ' School of Computer Sciences, Chitkara University, Punjab, India ' Department of Civil Engineering, Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India

Abstract: OpenStreetMap is producing huge spatial data contributed by users of different backgrounds and varying level of mapping experiences. Due to this generated map data may be topologically incorrect, which explicitly expresses the spatial relationship between features. To make the map data navigable, it is important that data is free from topological errors. The current work has been conducted to detect topological errors in OpenStreetMap data. OpenStreetMap data of Punjab (India) has been taken as test data for finding topological errors. For cleaning the topological errors, map data has been processed using different algorithms of open source geographic information systems, and it has been concluded that OpenStreetMap data is not free from topological errors and need a thorough preprocessing before being used for navigation purposes.

Keywords: geographic information systems; GIS; crowdsourcing; OpenStreetMap; topological errors; India; map data; preprocessing; navigation; spatial data.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTMIS.2016.076800

International Journal of Spatial, Temporal and Multimedia Information Systems, 2016 Vol.1 No.1, pp.87 - 101

Received: 30 Apr 2014
Accepted: 13 Dec 2014
Published online: 01 Jun 2016 *