MA topo maps

[savage]

I have finished the first release of the Massachusetts topo map here: here. Big thanks to -Oz-
Let me know what you think.

[-Oz-]

Just had a chance to take a quick look before going to sleep I'll look more in depth tomorrow but it looks really good.  I would say if you do other states such as connecticut and rhode island I would merge them with this map since the selection area kind of already exists.

Glad it finally worked out for you

I have all the data processed for New Mexico just need to create the .mp files.  I also have data for Hawaii (yes, random I know) so that map should be done by the end of the week as well.

[savage]

Yes I noticed that Connecticut and Rhodes Island are almost there. Maybe I will add them later. But now I want Maine.

Thanks for putting this site up.

[-Oz-]

Savage, I created a mac version of the map and changed how it is displayed here including a screenshot now.  If you object let me know (or you can edit it yourself its still linked to your username).

[savage]

Great!

[Don]

I just downloaded the MA Topo Maps and installed them on my GPSr. They look quite nice and I look forward to field testing them. I go out hiking regularly around MA so they'll be nice to have along.

I want to thank the creator maps. Would that be you, Savage? If so, many thanks. I looked over the procedure elsewhere on this site for composing maps.  I've done a fair amount of construction of my own paper maps using various software tools, still, putting together maps for upload to Garmin still looks like a lot of work.

If you check into this Forum, Savage, I do have a couple of questions I'd like to ask you.

Thanks again,

   Don

   Arlington, MA

[savage]

I am glad it is useful. I also have ME, and will have NH soon. I monitor this forum and will try to answer your questions promptly.

[Don]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Two initial questions. Is there an advantage/disadvantage to having both your topo maps and my Garmin City Navigator maps loaded and turned on at the same time for the same geographic area? Do your maps show the same info as the City Navigator maps plus topographic information?

If I want to add or modify the MA topo maps, say adding trails or text notes, is this possible using the section "How To Create Garmin Topo Maps" elsewhere on this site? If the answer is yes, do you still have to go through all of the steps involved in the creation of a new map?

Thanks again,

   Don

[savage]

-Oz- you might want to add to my comments as you know more than I do:

Two initial questions. Is there an advantage/disadvantage to having both your topo maps and my Garmin City Navigator maps loaded and turned on at the same time for the same geographic area? Do your maps show the same info as the City Navigator maps plus topographic information?

I do not have City Navigator and I do not know what type of information they provide. The map coming with my CSx unit were useless!

If I want to add or modify the MA topo maps, say adding trails or text notes, is this possible using the section "How To Create Garmin Topo Maps" elsewhere on this site? If the answer is yes, do you still have to go through all of the steps involved in the creation of a new map?

I suppose you could create a transparent map to overlay on top of this map. You are not going to be able to recreate a complete set like I did without the intermediate files that I already built. If you have good trails data (official stuff) then I will include them in a future release.

[Don]

Thanks for the answers.

Yes, the base map that comes with the unit is pretty useless unless you only travel on interstates.

  Don

[-Oz-]

Even then the interstates on the base map aren't super accurate.

Now, comparing to city navigator.  Depending on the version you have (i have 2006 on my 60csx and 2009 on my nuvi) the roads may be better or worse.  The roads on the topo map do not route though.  Generally I hide the topo unless I'm hiking BUT there is no reason to do so.  When I was driving through colorado I left the topo up; it routed off city navigator but I could see the terrain on screen.

Savage is right though; there are a couple ways to add trails.  If you want to rebuild the entire map you can actually open the .img files in GpsMapEdit and then add your trails, save the map, then recompile.  OR: you can recreate the entire map based on my tutorial OR you can just save the trails in gpsmapedit and make it a transparent map.  This will then appear over the topo map. 

I will probably write a tutorial detailing the transparent map method in a week or so.

[Boxerboy]

I am glad it is useful. I also have ME, and will have NH soon. I monitor this forum and will try to answer your questions promptly.

Savage-Have you continued your work on NH?  I've pulled down GeoTIFF and Arc data, but can't get it converted with DEM2TOPO or Global Mapper following the tutorial on this site.  DEM2TOPO crashes on memory (each of 15 GeoTIFFs >250MB).  Per Oz' suggestion, I'm about to try gdal_contour.  If you've already crunched NH, I'll hold off. 

If not, I have a question for Oz:  Using gdal_contour, do I need to follow steps similar to the following, given that I'd like an end result like I'd expect from DEM2TOPO with 400 ft major intervals, 200 ft intermediate intervals, and 20 foot minor intervals?

1. Navigate to the directory containing GeoTIFF DEM file.

2. Convert the DEM elevation units from meters to feet:

$ gdal_translate -scale 0 10000 0 32808.399 29901365.tif feet.tif

3. Build major contours (400-foot interval):

$ gdal_contour -a elev -i 400 feet.tif major.shp

4. Build intermediate contours (200-foot interval, adjust):

$ gdal_contour -a elev -i 200 feet.tif inter.shp

5. Build minor contours (20-foot interval, adjust):

$ gdal_contour -a elev -i 20 feet.tif minor.shp

Thanks very much for the help.

[savage]

NH is almost done. I just have to double check everything (make sure I did not forget a layer) and package it. I may try to work on it this week-end.

[-Oz-]

boxerboy: You run it just with the smallest interval.

For example if I want 40 ft I just use
gdal_contour -a elev -i 12.192 feet.tif minor.shp
because 12.192m = 40ft.

Then I use a query to do minor, intermediate, and major contours at 40, 200, and 400ft respectively.

Code Select Expand

ALTER TABLE contours ADD COLUMN mp_type character varying(50);
ALTER TABLE contours ALTER COLUMN mp_type SET STORAGE EXTENDED;
ALTER TABLE contours ADD COLUMN name text;
ALTER TABLE contours ALTER COLUMN name SET STORAGE EXTENDED;
ALTER TABLE contours ADD COLUMN tmp integer;
ALTER TABLE contours ALTER COLUMN tmp SET STORAGE PLAIN;
UPDATE contours SET elev = elev*(1/0.3048);
UPDATE contours SET name = elev;
UPDATE contours SET mp_type = '0x20';
UPDATE contours SET tmp = elev/200;
UPDATE contours SET mp_type = '0x21' WHERE elev/200-tmp < 0.0001 AND elev/200-tmp > -0.0001;
UPDATE contours SET tmp = elev/400;
UPDATE contours SET mp_type = '0x22' WHERE elev/400-tmp < 0.0001 AND elev/400-tmp > -0.0001;
ALTER TABLE contours DROP COLUMN temp RESTRICT;