On 12/03/19 10:18, Joseph Eisenberg wrote:
> “We will would like to map land cover in an area near the Amazonian
forest”
I’d recommend that you start by mapping the existing forested areas
with natural=wood or landuse=forest,
From aerial imagery I would recommend you do not use landuse=forest as
it cannot be determined if the area has some human use to the tress. Use
natural=wood and if you desire landcover=trees.
and areas of water with natural=water and water=lake / =river, or
natural=wetland for swamps, marshes, mangroves, bogs, etc.
If you can clearly identify other types of vegetation (from aerial
imagery, I assume?) there are several specific tags that can be used.
You should not tag something non-specific like “clearing” or “bare
ground”.
Natural=scrub is used for areas mainly covered shrubs or bushes, eg
woody plants about 1m to 3m in height, natura=heath is for dwarf
shrubs (probably only found in the high Andes on Colombia),
natural=grassland can be used for alpine areas above the treeline
(though these may also be heath or wetland=bog). Areas of rocky land
without vegetation can be natural=bare_rock, =sand, =scree, =shingle
The most relevant tags for landcover with heavy human use in Colombia
might be landuse=orchard for palm oil, banana, and coffee plantations,
landuse=farmland for seasonal or annual crops, landuse=meadow for
pasture and hay fields, landuse=residential / =industrial for
developed areas with houses / industry.
The idea should be to map as specifically as possible. If you are not
certain of the type of vegetation or landuse for a certain area, then
leave that place untagged for now. Someday a local person can add the
proper tagging by visiting that place in person.
Re: the landcover tags. These have not been approved by the community,
though there is a small, vocal minority that wants to use them instead
of the established tags that start with landuse= and natural=. I would
not use these, because there are much more widely used equivalents
that are approved or in use for many years.
Don’t use landcover=trees; use natural=wood or landuse=forest.
There is nothing wrong with dual tagging... use both natural=wood and
landcover=trees, for example of a tree area, indicates what is there in
as clear a manner as possible.
Nit picking - landuse=* should only be used to indicate the human use of
the land, it should not indicate a land cover.
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