Suitability of osmand mobile mapping application for rural roads

Abstract

For day-to-day work many free and open-source mobile mapping and navigation apps are available for common users. Suitability analysis of these applications in various domains is the need of the hour. The OSMAND mobile mapping and navigation app, was tested during training programmes on eight rural roads in seven States of the country in India in different terrain conditions. During training programmes, under field visits, the participants collected tracks in OSMAND mobile mapping app, of the selected roads, while sitting in a vehicle or walking on the road. Later data of all mobiles for the particular road visited were downloaded and analysed for the proximity to each other, in QGIS software. Data were found within a range of about 2.5 meters to 25 meters in either side from centre line of road tracks, as per travel on foot or in the bus, irrespective of bus width, travel speed, sitting position of participants, terrain conditions, weather condition, time of measurement, internal settings of application and makes and models of mobiles, barring few outliers. It was observed that the data were more in proximity and having less variation in plain terrains. The variation was more in hilly terrains with dense tree covers. The open mobile mapping applications can be a boon for developing countries for day to day uses in road sector for mapping and navigation.