Bulk import of minefield areas

Hello,

Minefields are important features for outdoor maps in Israel. They show on other maps, such as Survey of Israel map on govmap.gov.il and marked trails map by ITC (הוועדה לשבילי ישראל).

Following a Freedom of Information request, I have received the data from the IDF. The information is non-confidential (בלמ"ס) and there are no restrictions on publishing it.

Once I finish processing it, I plan to upload the data to OSM using the following tags:

  • landuse=military

  • military=danger_area

  • hazard=minefield

  • source=idf

Please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns.

P.S., currently, govmap.gov.il has a bug. If you use the above link, please zoom-in and zoom-out in order to see the map.

I’m concerned that every OSM user can change or delete the minefields mapping. I’ve checked with the OSM Data Working Group if there is any mechanism to control such changes.

The response was clear:

I therefore cancel the intended import.

However, my intention is to include the mapping of minefields in the Israel Hiking and Biking maps.

I would happy to see them mapped, even knowing that they can’t be accurate and can be changed. This will give me a knowledge that some area does have minefields and I should be more careful here and always check all signs.
About preserving data - you can add a back-reference in osm to your imported data and from time to time do import-like simulation to check that polygons are still exists and they are intact.

It would be great if the raw dataset could be published somewhere in a manner that any OSM client app can use it… I wouldn’t mind telling osmand to download third party map data from somewhere that isn’t editable by anyone with an email address, if that meant osmand would tell me about minefields.

@zstadler If you could publish the raw data we can look at hosting it in a way that users can add it to OSM maps. If you would like to share it privately instead you can send it to me at my username (at) gmail.com