Ordnance Survey Maps

By Author: Mary Porter
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Ordinance Survey Maps
Ordinance survey maps are a very important part of being able to ensure that the area that you are looking at is the right place that you are aiming to look at. They can play a very important and intergural part of really knowing what is what. This article is aimed at working through some of the benefits of using ordinance survey maps. The article will then conclude by informing you on where you can find more information on these maps including world wall maps.

What do Ordnance Survey maps do?

Ordnance Survey is Great Britain’s national mapping agency. In addition to producing our paper maps we create and maintain the most accurate and up-to-date geographical data, relied on by government, businesses and individuals.

How can Ordnance Survey help local councils?

Public sector organisations in England and Wales now have access to Ordnance Survey mapping data under a single agreement known as the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA).

Ordinance survey map s offered in themed 'layers', each linked to a number of TOIDs. As of September 2010, the layers are:

OS ...
... MasterMap Topography Layer - the primary layer of OS MasterMap, consisting of vector data comprising large-scale representation of features in the real world, such as buildings and areas of vegetation. The features captured and the way they are depicted is listed in a specification available on the Ordnance Survey website.

OS MasterMap Integrated Transport Network Layer - this is a link-and-node network of transport features, such as roads and railways. This data is at the heart of many satnav systems. In an attempt to reduce the number of HGVs using unsuitable roads, a data capture programme of 'Road Routing Information' was recently undertaken and this aims to add information such as bridge height restrictions and one-way streets to the product.

OS MasterMap Imagery Layer - as the name suggests, this product is orthorectified raster format aerial photography.

OS MasterMap Address Layer and Address Layer 2 - this shows every address in the UK as an overlay to the other layers. Address Layer 2 adds additional information, such as addresses with multiple occupants (blocks of flats, student houses etc.) and objects with no postal address, such as fields and electricity substations.

If you would like more information then this can be found by entering the keywords ‘ordinance survey maps’ into an internet search engine.