Grassroots mapping to support Christchurch Earthquake recovery - help requested

[Tim McNamara]

Hi all,

http://eq.org.nz have received an offer to remotely train people on how to use balloons & kites to provide mapping data for the Christchurch. I think this would be a great way for any available makers & hackers in Canterbury to provide support to the rest of the community. http://maps.eq.org.nz (not yet publicised) will be able to host any Shapefiles, WMS etc for distribution.

Could people please distribute this message to anyone who might be interested in Canterbury. I'm not well connected with the NZ Open GIS community. We will need a local leader to move this project forward.

If you find anyone interested in this project, please ask them to email ***@gmail.com with [grassroots mapping] in the subject line.

My apologies for the cross-posting & off-topic message to NZLUG. Thanks for your understanding.

--
Tim McNamara
CrisisCamp NZ
http://eq.org.nz

Date: Friday, 25 February 2011 8:59:29 AM
Subject: Re: balloon / kite mapping
Hi all -
of course i'd be happy to be on skype video if we can work out a time.
You might ping the grassroots mapping mailing list: Mailing List
for additional advice, and perhaps even some geographically proximate volunteers!
a good introduction to the list, soliciting community assistance in your effort, might include exactly where you'd like to map, what size area, how often, what resolution, for what usage, etc. For example, one use might be damage assessment for claims, but i'm sure you all know best whether there is a convincing use case there.
I'm of course interested in answering any/all questions -- but sometimes reaching out to the whole list yields some valuable collaborations -- there are a variety of experts lurking on there.
Best,
Jeff

Pretty confident that we could arrange that re: remote training.
Chad

CCed Steve Davis (busy on the ground in Chch with the Red Cross) & eq.org.nz organising team
Steve -
Do you think there's any spare capacity in Canterbury to start to use ballons to map?
If you think it will be a useful service - I will conduct some outreach to the University of Canterbury to see if their physics students etc would be interested in learning.
Jeff Warren - thanks for listening.
We would love some remote expert support in real time if possible. Do you think that it would be possible to be available for conference calls etc?

Thanks Chad, I'm copying my colleague Jeff who spearheads Grassrootsmapping

Hi guys,
Just wanted to throw out the idea of possibly using balloons and/or kites for low-level imagery. Was used extensively in the Gulf Oil Spill's Ushahidi effort, and if the cloud cover continues, might be a good bet / good activity for weekend volunteers. Good thing is: not that hard to do actually.
grassrootsmapping.org
publiclaboratory.org
Again, just a something to consider.
Chad

_______________________________________________
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http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

[Adrian Mageanu]

Not sure that flying balloons and kites above Christchurch is a good
idea at the moment with all the choppers going around at low altitude.

I live inside the cordon and you can see and hear them buzzing around
all day long and sometimes during night too.

Post by Tim McNamara
Hi all,
http://eq.org.nz have received an offer to remotely train people on how to use balloons & kites to provide mapping data for the Christchurch. I think this would be a great way for any available makers & hackers in Canterbury to provide support to the rest of the community. http://maps.eq.org.nz (not yet publicised) will be able to host any Shapefiles, WMS etc for distribution.
Could people please distribute this message to anyone who might be interested in Canterbury. I'm not well connected with the NZ Open GIS community. We will need a local leader to move this project forward.
My apologies for the cross-posting & off-topic message to NZLUG. Thanks for your understanding.
--
Tim McNamara
CrisisCamp NZ
http://eq.org.nz

Date: Friday, 25 February 2011 8:59:29 AM
Subject: Re: balloon / kite mapping
Hi all -
of course i'd be happy to be on skype video if we can work out a time.
You might ping the grassroots mapping mailing list: Mailing List
for additional advice, and perhaps even some geographically proximate volunteers!
a good introduction to the list, soliciting community assistance in your effort, might include exactly where you'd like to map, what size area, how often, what resolution, for what usage, etc. For example, one use might be damage assessment for claims, but i'm sure you all know best whether there is a convincing use case there.
I'm of course interested in answering any/all questions -- but sometimes reaching out to the whole list yields some valuable collaborations -- there are a variety of experts lurking on there.
Best,
Jeff

Pretty confident that we could arrange that re: remote training.
Chad

CCed Steve Davis (busy on the ground in Chch with the Red Cross) & eq.org.nz organising team
Steve -
Do you think there's any spare capacity in Canterbury to start to use ballons to map?
If you think it will be a useful service - I will conduct some outreach to the University of Canterbury to see if their physics students etc would be interested in learning.
Jeff Warren - thanks for listening.
We would love some remote expert support in real time if possible. Do you think that it would be possible to be available for conference calls etc?

Thanks Chad, I'm copying my colleague Jeff who spearheads Grassrootsmapping

Hi guys,
Just wanted to throw out the idea of possibly using balloons and/or kites for low-level imagery. Was used extensively in the Gulf Oil Spill's Ushahidi effort, and if the cloud cover continues, might be a good bet / good activity for weekend volunteers. Good thing is: not that hard to do actually.
grassrootsmapping.org
publiclaboratory.org
Again, just a something to consider.
Chad

_______________________________________________
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

_______________________________________________
NZLUG mailing list ***@linux.net.nz
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

[Nick Rout]

Mapping data on what bridges are open what streets open which ways to drive
would be good. If I knew my android maps app would take me around closed
roads and find the best way to any destination I would be rapt.

On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 10:59 AM, Adrian Mageanu <

Post by Adrian Mageanu
Not sure that flying balloons and kites above Christchurch is a good
idea at the moment with all the choppers going around at low altitude.
I live inside the cordon and you can see and hear them buzzing around
all day long and sometimes during night too.

Post by Tim McNamara
Hi all,
http://eq.org.nz have received an offer to remotely train people on how

to use balloons & kites to provide mapping data for the Christchurch. I
think this would be a great way for any available makers & hackers in
Canterbury to provide support to the rest of the community.
http://maps.eq.org.nz (not yet publicised) will be able to host any
Shapefiles, WMS etc for distribution.

Post by Tim McNamara
Could people please distribute this message to anyone who might be

interested in Canterbury. I'm not well connected with the NZ Open GIS
community. We will need a local leader to move this project forward.

Post by Tim McNamara
If you find anyone interested in this project, please ask them to email
My apologies for the cross-posting & off-topic message to NZLUG. Thanks

for your understanding.

Post by Tim McNamara
--
Tim McNamara
CrisisCamp NZ
http://eq.org.nz

Date: Friday, 25 February 2011 8:59:29 AM
Subject: Re: balloon / kite mapping
Hi all -
of course i'd be happy to be on skype video if we can work out a time.
You might ping the grassroots mapping mailing list: Mailing List
for additional advice, and perhaps even some geographically proximate

volunteers!

Post by Tim McNamara

a good introduction to the list, soliciting community assistance in

your effort, might include exactly where you'd like to map, what size area,
how often, what resolution, for what usage, etc. For example, one use might
be damage assessment for claims, but i'm sure you all know best whether
there is a convincing use case there.

Post by Tim McNamara

I'm of course interested in answering any/all questions -- but

sometimes reaching out to the whole list yields some valuable collaborations
-- there are a variety of experts lurking on there.

Post by Tim McNamara

Best,
Jeff
On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 12:57 PM, Chad Catacchio <

Pretty confident that we could arrange that re: remote training.
Chad
On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 9:54 AM, Tim McNamara <

CCed Steve Davis (busy on the ground in Chch with the Red Cross) &

eq.org.nz organising team

Post by Tim McNamara

Steve -
Do you think there's any spare capacity in Canterbury to start to

use ballons to map?

Post by Tim McNamara

If you think it will be a useful service - I will conduct some

outreach to the University of Canterbury to see if their physics students
etc would be interested in learning.

Post by Tim McNamara

Jeff Warren - thanks for listening.
We would love some remote expert support in real time if possible.

Do you think that it would be possible to be available for conference calls
etc?

Post by Tim McNamara

On 25 February 2011 06:05, Patrick Meier (Ushahidi) <

Thanks Chad, I'm copying my colleague Jeff who spearheads

Grassrootsmapping

Post by Tim McNamara

On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 8:57 AM, Chad Catacchio <

Hi guys,
Just wanted to throw out the idea of possibly using balloons

and/or kites for low-level imagery. Was used extensively in the Gulf Oil
Spill's Ushahidi effort, and if the cloud cover continues, might be a good
bet / good activity for weekend volunteers. Good thing is: not that hard to
do actually.

Post by Tim McNamara

Here are two sites, and Patrick (cc'd) is a true expert in
grassrootsmapping.org
publiclaboratory.org
Again, just a something to consider.
Chad

_______________________________________________
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_______________________________________________
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_______________________________________________
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http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

[Paul Campbell]

Post by Nick Rout
Mapping data on what bridges are open what streets open which ways to drive
would be good. If I knew my android maps app would take me around closed
roads and find the best way to any destination I would be rapt.

I was thinking of this same thing myself - it's the sort of thing that Google
might be a good partner for since they already have 99% of the required
infrastructure in place

Paul

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NZLUG mailing list ***@linux.net.nz
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

[Volker Kuhlmann]

Post by Paul Campbell

Post by Nick Rout
Mapping data on what bridges are open what streets open which ways to drive
would be good. If I knew my android maps app would take me around closed
roads and find the best way to any destination I would be rapt.

I was thinking of this same thing myself - it's the sort of thing that Google
might be a good partner for since they already have 99% of the required
infrastructure in place

Good idea, not new: http://eqviewer.co.nz/

Linked from civil defense. However if anyone knows who puts the data on
maybe they could pass on a request to have the numerous errors
corrected, if at all possible - but then keeping a record of which roads
are open may not be priority right now. Knowing where to get water is.

Whoever "might have something in a few days" - we appreciate you're
trying to help, but we needed that yesterday, and it needs to be updated
at least twice a day. Not sure where the data might come from, if you
make that a community effort you will have to be able to filter out
effectively the input from Joe Frantic Public. I expect the situation to
be mostly stable next week, when all the immediate fixes are done and
the longer-term ones are left. The Navy is loading bridges (among other
things) in Wellington today or tomorrow.

Volker

[Paul Campbell]

Post by Volker Kuhlmann
Good idea, not new: http://eqviewer.co.nz/

I was thinking more that google maps will give directions (click on that "get
directions" link) - but probably doesn't have recent Chch changes (like closed
streets and bridges and the CBD) - a sustained and ongoing attempt to update
Google's database to reflect current reality - and update it as things are fixed
would allow people to get useful directions that avoided closed things

Paul

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http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

[Robin Paulson]

Post by Volker Kuhlmann

Post by Paul Campbell

Post by Nick Rout
Mapping data on what bridges are open what streets open which ways to drive
would be good. If I knew my android maps app would take me around closed
roads and find the best way to any destination I would be rapt.

I was thinking of this same thing myself - it's the sort of thing that Google
might be a good partner for since they already have 99% of the required
infrastructure in place

it's the sort of thing that OSM/eq.org.nz *are* a good partner for since:
a. they have 100% of the infrastructure in place
b. they react very quickly
c. they're already doing it

Post by Volker Kuhlmann
Good idea, not new: http://eqviewer.co.nz/
Linked from civil defense. However if anyone knows who puts the data on
maybe they could pass on a request to have the numerous errors

well, that's kind of my point - if you want to wait for council to
update it, you might be sat around awhile. however, if you want to do
it yourself....

Post by Volker Kuhlmann
corrected, if at all possible - but then keeping a record of which roads
are open may not be priority right now. Knowing where to get water is.

both are a priority, and both are included as are other data sets -
various groups need to know how to get from place a to place b.
including water deliverers

Post by Volker Kuhlmann
Whoever "might have something in a few days" - we appreciate you're
trying to help, but we needed that yesterday, and it needs to be updated

cheers

Post by Volker Kuhlmann
at least twice a day. Not sure where the data might come from, if you

the council, it was initially released CC-BY on friday, with ongoing
updates, also CC-BY
also, the public, who release every few minutes

Post by Volker Kuhlmann
make that a community effort you will have to be able to filter out
effectively the input from Joe Frantic Public. I expect the situation to

the public's data has been very useful also - that's the point of the
input side of eq.org.nz

the two data sets are complimentary, it's not an 'either/or'
situation, it's an 'and' situation

and there are people filtering out the mistakes/duplicates

Post by Volker Kuhlmann
be mostly stable next week, when all the immediate fixes are done and
the longer-term ones are left. The Navy is loading bridges (among other
things) in Wellington today or tomorrow.

good to hear
--
robin

http://tangleball.org.nz/ - Auckland's Creative Space
http://openstreetmap.org.nz/ - Open Street Map New Zealand
http://bumblepuppy.org/blog/

_______________________________________________
NZLUG mailing list ***@linux.net.nz
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

[Volker Kuhlmann]

Post by Robin Paulson

Post by Volker Kuhlmann
corrected, if at all possible - but then keeping a record of which roads
are open may not be priority right now. Knowing where to get water is.

both are a priority, and both are included as are other data sets -
various groups need to know how to get from place a to place b.
including water deliverers

I don't know who is responsible for eqviewer.co.nz or where the data
comes from, there is zip info about that on the site and therefore no
possibility to point out corrections. It seemed like a
really good idea when I first saw it, but I wouldn't use it for road
info. The number of errors I found just going to work is so high that my
confidence in the remaining info being correct is close to zero, which
makes the road resource basically useless. The info about water and
toilets seems more accurate. There's no legend either - I have yet to
work out what the cube-symbol means.

The site is no doubt on the right track, but IMHO opinion needs more
tuning to make it really good.

Volker

[Tim McNamara]

Post by Volker Kuhlmann

Post by Robin Paulson

Post by Volker Kuhlmann
corrected, if at all possible - but then keeping a record of which

roads

Post by Robin Paulson

Post by Volker Kuhlmann
are open may not be priority right now. Knowing where to get water is.

both are a priority, and both are included as are other data sets -
various groups need to know how to get from place a to place b.
including water deliverers

I don't know who is responsible for eqviewer.co.nz or where the data
comes from, there is zip info about that on the site and therefore no
possibility to point out corrections. It seemed like a
really good idea when I first saw it, but I wouldn't use it for road
info. The number of errors I found just going to work is so high that my
confidence in the remaining info being correct is close to zero, which
makes the road resource basically useless. The info about water and
toilets seems more accurate. There's no legend either - I have yet to
work out what the cube-symbol means.
The site is no doubt on the right track, but IMHO opinion needs more
tuning to make it really good.
Volker
--
Volker Kuhlmann is list0570 with the domain in header.
http://volker.dnsalias.net/ Please do not CC list postings to me.

Volker

eqviewer.co.nz is ECan's (the regional council's) official visusalisation
tool. If there are data that are inaccurate, it may be worth notifying them.


Regards,

Tim McNamara
_______________________________________________
NZLUG mailing list ***@linux.net.nz
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

[Peter Lambrechtsen]

OSMand Is a pretty good Android mapping app.

I have taken the NZ Open GIS files, and converted them into osmand files
that can be uploaded into my phone and work without needing internet.

Post by Nick Rout
Mapping data on what bridges are open what streets open which ways to drive
would be good. If I knew my android maps app would take me around closed
roads and find the best way to any destination I would be rapt.
On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 10:59 AM, Adrian Mageanu <

Post by Adrian Mageanu
Not sure that flying balloons and kites above Christchurch is a good
idea at the moment with all the choppers going around at low altitude.
I live inside the cordon and you can see and hear them buzzing around
all day long and sometimes during night too.

Post by Tim McNamara
Hi all,
http://eq.org.nz have received an offer to remotely train people on

how

Post by Adrian Mageanu
to use balloons & kites to provide mapping data for the Christchurch. I
think this would be a great way for any available makers & hackers in
Canterbury to provide support to the rest of the community.
http://maps.eq.org.nz (not yet publicised) will be able to host any
Shapefiles, WMS etc for distribution.

Post by Tim McNamara
Could people please distribute this message to anyone who might be

interested in Canterbury. I'm not well connected with the NZ Open GIS
community. We will need a local leader to move this project forward.

Post by Tim McNamara
If you find anyone interested in this project, please ask them to email
My apologies for the cross-posting & off-topic message to NZLUG. Thanks

for your understanding.

Post by Tim McNamara
--
Tim McNamara
CrisisCamp NZ
http://eq.org.nz

,

Post by Tim McNamara

Date: Friday, 25 February 2011 8:59:29 AM
Subject: Re: balloon / kite mapping
Hi all -
of course i'd be happy to be on skype video if we can work out a

time.

Post by Adrian Mageanu

Post by Tim McNamara

You might ping the grassroots mapping mailing list: Mailing List
for additional advice, and perhaps even some geographically proximate

volunteers!

Post by Tim McNamara

a good introduction to the list, soliciting community assistance in

your effort, might include exactly where you'd like to map, what size

area,

Post by Adrian Mageanu
how often, what resolution, for what usage, etc. For example, one use

might

Post by Adrian Mageanu
be damage assessment for claims, but i'm sure you all know best whether
there is a convincing use case there.

Post by Tim McNamara

I'm of course interested in answering any/all questions -- but

sometimes reaching out to the whole list yields some valuable

collaborations

Post by Adrian Mageanu
-- there are a variety of experts lurking on there.

Post by Tim McNamara

Best,
Jeff
On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 12:57 PM, Chad Catacchio <

Pretty confident that we could arrange that re: remote training.
Chad
On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 9:54 AM, Tim McNamara <

CCed Steve Davis (busy on the ground in Chch with the Red Cross)

&

Post by Adrian Mageanu
eq.org.nz organising team

Post by Tim McNamara

Steve -
Do you think there's any spare capacity in Canterbury to start to

use ballons to map?

Post by Tim McNamara

If you think it will be a useful service - I will conduct some

outreach to the University of Canterbury to see if their physics students
etc would be interested in learning.

Post by Tim McNamara

Jeff Warren - thanks for listening.
We would love some remote expert support in real time if

possible.

Post by Adrian Mageanu
Do you think that it would be possible to be available for conference

calls

Post by Adrian Mageanu
etc?

Post by Tim McNamara

On 25 February 2011 06:05, Patrick Meier (Ushahidi) <

Thanks Chad, I'm copying my colleague Jeff who spearheads

Grassrootsmapping

Post by Tim McNamara

On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 8:57 AM, Chad Catacchio <

Hi guys,
Just wanted to throw out the idea of possibly using balloons

and/or kites for low-level imagery. Was used extensively in the Gulf Oil
Spill's Ushahidi effort, and if the cloud cover continues, might be a

good

Post by Adrian Mageanu
bet / good activity for weekend volunteers. Good thing is: not that hard

to

Post by Adrian Mageanu
do actually.

Post by Tim McNamara

Here are two sites, and Patrick (cc'd) is a true expert in
grassrootsmapping.org
publiclaboratory.org
Again, just a something to consider.
Chad

_______________________________________________
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

_______________________________________________
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

_______________________________________________
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

_______________________________________________
NZLUG mailing list ***@linux.net.nz
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

[Robin Paulson]

Post by Nick Rout
Mapping data on what bridges are open what streets open which ways to drive
would be good. If I knew my android maps app would take me around closed
roads and find the best way to any destination I would be rapt.

chch city council have given their data (CC-BY) for closed roads and
bridges - this is updated very frequently and precisely. it's
currently shown at maps.eq.org.nz and on koordinates.com available for
download in various formats. it will probably be in the osm data set
within the next few days. if there are any developers here who would
like to assist with that, head over to the NZ Open GIS google group
and shout up
--
robin

http://tangleball.org.nz/ - Auckland's Creative Space
http://openstreetmap.org.nz/ - Open Street Map New Zealand
http://bumblepuppy.org/blog/

_______________________________________________
NZLUG mailing list ***@linux.net.nz
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug