Contextual Product Demonstrator
A guide to Ordnance Survey's contextual products and their purposes.
What are contextual data products?
Contextual, or derived data products, are data sets that can be used to provide context to your information as a back drop and can be used in reports, web applications, mobile apps and desktop graphic applications. Ordnance Survey contextual data sets are available as both raster or vector data.
Raster Products
The following are the contextual options available in a raster (in this case, a pixel-based image) format. Raster data differs from vector as it is not stored as lines and points but rather as the colour values of the cells/pixels. Images are often referred to as ‘tiles’ as they relate to the British National Grid.
When viewed at the incorrect scale they may become unclear and pixelated so it is important that the correct product is chosen for the intended usage so that its scale is appropriate. All raster products are georeferenced so are ready to use in most GIS software.
1 : 50 000 | 1:25 000 | |
|---|---|---|
Features | Derived from the OS Landranger Maps Cartographic and topographic focus Built-up area polygons and vegetation cover Public Rights of Way (PROWs) - National trails, Cycle routes, Bridleways, Footpaths | Created from the OS Explorer Map series Cartographic, topographic and recreational focus Generalised buildings Tourist information and access land Public Rights of Way (PRoWs) - National trails, Cycle routes, Bridleways, Footpaths |
Suggested Applications | District-level overview and backdrop mapping Walkers and cyclists | Local-level overview and backdrop mapping Walkers and cyclists |
Coverage | Extent of order | Data source | Update interval | Transfer format | Supply media | Tile size | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Great Britain | User defined by tile | Landranger production data | Quarterly: March, June, September, December | TIFF, BMP | CD, DVD or download | 20 km by 20 km | 254 dpi |
Great Britain | User defined by tile | Explorer production data | Quarterly: March, June, September, December | TIFF | CD, DVD or download | 10 km by 10 km | 254 dpi |
1:50 000 compared to 1:25 000
Vector Products
Vector datasets are made up of points, lines, and/or polygons instead of individual pixels or cells like a raster. These features are defined by their coordinate values which for the following OS vector products are on the British National Grid projection and datum.
Coverage | Extent of Order | Data source | Update interval | Transfer format | Supply media | Precision | Styling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Great Britain | Great Britain | Various mid and small-scale datasets | Bi-Annual | Geopackage and Vector Tiles | Download | 1km (snapped to grid) | Styling available from OS pages on GitHub |
OS Open Zoomstack details
Styling OS Open Zoomstack
Stylesheet are available from the OS pages on GitHub as QGIS QML files, ESRI LYR files, GeoServer SLD files and Mapbox GL files (for Vector Tiles only) in the following styles:
- Light
- Night
- Outdoor
- Road
- Deuteranopia
- Tritanopia
The Deuteranopia and Tritanopia styles are designed to be suitable for those with Colour Vision Deficiency (CVD).
Note: Whilst these styles have been created to be suitable for as many types of colour vision deficiency (CVD) as possible, this is our first release, and we recognise this product may not be perfect for all people with colour blindness.