i'm trying to get the files for Rivers, for most rivers i search for them in the Wizard using name=example and waterway=example and this works fine. For many rivers and canals overpass doesnt seem to be able to find the features and returns as map is left intentionally blank. I tried to use the selection box but then can't open in in QGIS all i need is the river does any one know of any way to get just the river file?
[GIS] How to get all rivers from OSM using Overpass
exportfeaturesoverpass-apiqgisrivers
Related Solutions
I would use the area feature of the Overpass API in order to achieve this goal.
[out:json];
area
["name"="France"]
["boundary"="administrative"]
["admin_level"="2"];
(._;(pivot:);>;);
out body qt;
Lines 2-5 are selecting the correct area.
Line 6 creates an union consisting of:
- the area itself
- the pivot element of this area (the relationship/way/... from which this area was generated)
- the ways/nodes referenced by the pivot element
Line 7 just prints out the results. The qt parameter is just a performance optimization and not necessary (http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Overpass_API/Language_Guide#order_attribute)
By setting admin_level to 2 you can make sure, that you will only get national borders. You will need to adapt this value in order to get different types of boundaries. A list of the meaning of admin_level's values can be found at http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Admin_level#admin_level.
By the way: Areas are created by the Overpass-API server and are not part of the original OpenStreetMap database. Internally, the Overpass server is doing exactly what scai wrote: It is gathering together the data from relationships. (see wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Overpass_API/Areas)
You'll need river centreline and linear referencing to achieve this
If you have to repeat task multiple time, I'll post a script that fascilitate chainage computation without linear referencing
Best Answer
You might find it useful to go to OpenStreetmap and zoom to your area of interest, then use the query tool (the Question Mark icon). You don't need to be logged in to use this.
Next, click on or near the water feature you want to examine - a list of candidates will appear on a panel in the left.
You should hopefully be able to find the feature, and click on the link - this should show how the feature has been tagged.
In most cases, rivers should be tagged 'waterway', but it's possible some may have been tagged with something else, like 'natural'
Also - I'm assuming you're using QuickOSM plugin, as you tagged this QGIS? If so, check the 'advanced' settings in query, and make sure you have all types of geometry selected. Some rivers are lines, but more complex rivers (wide rivers with islands for example) can be relations or multipolygons.
Note that if you leave the value blank, it matches any value for waterway - you don't have to search for canals and streams separately unless you want them in separate layers.