Category Archives: map data updates

Updated mapping now available

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A few of the mapping products in Digimap for Schools were updated this morning to the most recent versions available from Ordnance Survey.  The updated products and their release dates are:

  • Vectormap Local Raster (zoom level 10, street view – January 2016
  • 1:25 000 scale raster (zoom levels 8 and 9) – December 2015
  • 1:50 000 scale raster (zoom level 7) – December 2015
  • Miniscale (zoom levels 2, 3 and 4) – January 2016
Tweedbank 2015 map (1:25 000 raster)

Tweedbank 2015 map (1:25 000 raster)

tweedbank_2016 (1:25 000 rater)

Tweedbank 2016 map (1:25 000 raster)

Spot the differences!

Updated maps

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In addition to the new MasterMap styling released yesterday updated mapping also went live.  Updates to MasterMap, VectorMap Local raster, 1:25,ooo scale raster, 1:50,000 scale raster, and 1:250,000 scale raster were released.

This brings the mapping up to date with the latest available from Ordnance Survey.  Dates of the map data are:

  • MasterMap – 11th June 2015 (detailed mapping)
  • VectorMap Local Raster – July 2015 (street level mapping)
  • 1:25,000 scale raster – June 2015
  • 1:50,000 scale raster – June 2015
  • 1:250,00 scale raster – June 2015 (road atlas style mapping)

Have a go at playing spot the difference and see if you can find changes that have appeared on the maps!

updated 250k raster example

The new Borders Railway route shown on the updated 1:250,00 scale raster

 

New GB map and updated mapping

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Coming very soon we will be releasing a new GB map in Digimap for Schools.  In December, Ordnance Survey released a new GB Overview map as part of their OS Open Data products.  It’s a nice and clear map with GB country boundaries and capital cities marked.  We hope that you like the new map and find it useful.

New GB map view

Also being released are updates to the mid and small scale mapping products.  These maps are being updated to the most recent versions made available to us by Ordnance Survey.  Maps that will be updated are:

  • Miniscale (January 2015)
  • 1:50 000 Raster (December 2014)
  • 1:25 000 Raster (December 2014)
  • VML Colour Raster (January 2015)

New term, new mapping data

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Over summer, the Digimap for Schools team have been beavering away processing updated Ordnance Survey mapping for the annual data update.   Every year, we take updates from Ordnance Survey and put them into Digimap for Schools, so recent changes in your area may now be on the maps.

The mapping is all 2014 data, the specific month for each product is:

MasterMap May 2014
VectorMap Local Raster July 2014
1:25 000 Raster April 2014
1:50 000 Raster June 2014
1:250 000 Raster June 2014
MiniScale January 2014

Introducing VML Raster – a new mapping product for Digimap for Schools

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Many users will be familiar with the Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 scale raster mapping product that is used in Digimap for Schools on the 3rd most zoomed in view scale.  On 1st March 2013, Ordnance Survey announced the up coming withdrawal of this product from their mapping catalogue in 2014.  This has given us the opportunity to update the mapping used for this zoom level and add in OS VectorMap Local (VML) raster to replace the 1:10,000 scale raster.

OS have decided to withdraw the 1:10,000 due to the dated cartographic styling it uses.  The styling was developed in 1995 – so it is older than most Digimap for Schools users!!  The data has been maintained and updated with changes on the ground mapped, but the styling is now showing its age.

A detailed announcement from Ordnance Survey can be found here

VML raster is a much more modern looking mapping product and is more in-keeping with other the style of other map products.  You will hopefully agree that the flow through the stack in Digimap for Schools is much nicer with VML raster.

Example of 1:10,000 scale raster

VML raster exampleA new map key illustrating the symbology used on the VML raster will also be added, to replace the 1:10,000 raster key.

VML raster will be available in Digimap for Schools from 24th September , when we will be releasing a couple of great new tools – keep an eye out for the blog post about these new enhancements!  (Amendment: We actually exceeded our target of September 24th and have delivered it on the 27th August to ensure its ready for the new school term.  Many thanks to our hard working engineers for this! the new tools are still planned for September 24th!)

Map data changes: 1:25,000 printing and annual update

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Over the summer, we’ve been working hard to tweak one of the zoom levels to provide 1:25,000 scale printing and to process the new map data which will be released in Digimap for Schools on Tuesday 13th September.

1:25,000 Printing

At the start of August, we changed the map product that is used for the 8th zoomed in view in Digimap for Schools from a ‘zoomed in’ version of the 1:50,000 Scale Raster to the 1:25,000 scale Raster.  The key benefit of doing this is that you can now create printable PDF maps at 1:25,000 scale, which is one of the key scales used in the Geography curriculum across the country.

To view the changes, zoom into the 8th most zoomed in view level, and click make printable map.  Click on the thumbnail image below for an example to view a 1:25,000 scale pdf map created from Digimap for Schools.

Sample 1:25,000 scale printed pdf map

Sample 1:25,000 scale printed pdf map

 

Annual Data Update

Every year, near the start of September, we update the map data available in Digimap for Schools.  This year, the update will be taking place on the evening of the 13th September. All the maps in Digimap for Schools will be updated, so if there has been any new buildings in your area in the last couple of years that aren’t currently on the map, the may be on the new maps.  The annual update of the maps provides a great opportunity to take a look at some of the changes that have been taking place across the country.  My favourite example this year is the rapid development of the London 2012 Olympic venues.  Here’s a sneak preview of some of the changes you’ll be able to check out for yourself after the 13th.

Olympic site map compare

Can you spot the differences between the 2010 map (top) and the 2011 map (bottom)?

Please note that the MasterMap data used to create the two most zoomed in levels in Digimap for Schools, will be updated later in September.  Our data engineers have to process the raw MasterMap data to create the rasters images we use, and this takes quite a long time of leaving the servers to work away at it.  We’ll let you know when the MasterMap data will be updated.

Finally, we have also updated the GB view, the most zoomed out level that you see when you log in, by adding relief detail.  Showing relief at this level is really useful as you can clearly see the difference between the mountainous parts of the country and the flatter lands.

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