UK Ordnance Survey OpenData Topo Map
Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2022 6:46 pm
This might help someone wanting to use OS maps of Great Britain, to some extent.
The attached AQX file will install what is directly available for free as a custom map (or, at least, it worked for me: no doubt it could be refined, hopefully there's no glaring error).
To be clear, this is the "Outdoor" styled (vector?) map released by Ordnance Survey as free-to-access-and-reuse OpenData, and served as raster tiles through their own API.
Although it has topographical detail, and goes down to 1:10K for urban area detail too, this "Outdoor" map is not the same as the iconic 1:50K Landranger or 1:25K Explorer "Leisure" walking maps. Those are considered "Premium Data" by the OS. The most important practical difference is that those show footpaths, bridleways etc., whereas the OpenData map does not.
In conjunction with OSM layers for path information and the local authority rights of way data you can import as placemarks from http://www.rowmaps.com the OpenData map can still be useful in lots of ways, and in its own right; so is worth having as an option.
To install it as a custom map in AlpineQuest, you first have to obtain a free OpenData API key from https://osdatahub.os.uk -- this is available to private individuals (unlike Premium keys) and gives you unlimited use and caching, subject to a standard rate limit of 600 tile transactions per minute. The process is straightforward:
By way of preview, this is the code in the file:
Finally, put the file somewhere that AlpineQuest can read it eg. your Downloads folder, and select it for installation using the same procedure as a file-based map. It will be copied to the correct application folder and is then no longer needed.
The attached AQX file will install what is directly available for free as a custom map (or, at least, it worked for me: no doubt it could be refined, hopefully there's no glaring error).
To be clear, this is the "Outdoor" styled (vector?) map released by Ordnance Survey as free-to-access-and-reuse OpenData, and served as raster tiles through their own API.
Although it has topographical detail, and goes down to 1:10K for urban area detail too, this "Outdoor" map is not the same as the iconic 1:50K Landranger or 1:25K Explorer "Leisure" walking maps. Those are considered "Premium Data" by the OS. The most important practical difference is that those show footpaths, bridleways etc., whereas the OpenData map does not.
In conjunction with OSM layers for path information and the local authority rights of way data you can import as placemarks from http://www.rowmaps.com the OpenData map can still be useful in lots of ways, and in its own right; so is worth having as an option.
To install it as a custom map in AlpineQuest, you first have to obtain a free OpenData API key from https://osdatahub.os.uk -- this is available to private individuals (unlike Premium keys) and gives you unlimited use and caching, subject to a standard rate limit of 600 tile transactions per minute. The process is straightforward:
- Create an account
- Create a project (the name doesn't matter)
- Add the Maps API to that project
- Copy the resulting API Key (not the API Secret) to use below
By way of preview, this is the code in the file:
Code: Select all
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<aqx version="9">
<name>GB OS OpenData Maps</name>
<description>Ordnance Survey Data © Crown Copyright</description>
<!--This AQX file needs to go in the /Android/data/psyberia.alpinequest.full/files/datastore/maps/ folder-->
<param name="my-api-key">REPLACE_THIS_TEXT_WITH_YOUR_OWN_KEY</param>
<!--A *free* personal API key to use here can be obtained from https://osdatahub.os.uk/plans -->
<source id="OSOD" type="topo">
<name>OS OpenData Outdoor Style</name>
<region>EURO</region>
<copyright>Ordnance Survey Crown Copyright</copyright>
<zoom-levels z="7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16">
<!--In the EPSG:3857 web mercator tile matrix set 7 is the lowest available, representing 1:4,622,324 scale, whilst levels above 16, which is 1:9,028 scale, count as Premium Data-->
<ignore-errors>404</ignore-errors>
<update-delay>None</update-delay>
<servers>
<server><![CDATA[https://api.os.uk/maps/raster/v1/zxy/Outdoor_3857/{$z}/{$x}/{$y}.png?key={$param:my-api-key}]]></server>
</servers>
</zoom-levels>
</source>
</aqx>
)
