In Benjamin's case, he wants to create "images of a couple of locations in the United States".  I would just upload what he needs for those locations, and that's all.

I don't think mass-uploading would help until we have a better idea of how we want to use the imagery.  It really is massive amounts of data and imagery, I think beyond what we have the capacity to handle.  Easily can be terabytes of data which is overwhelming for people to work with, as well as considerations required in terms of hardware and how the software handles it.  I have already tried uploading files too big for Wikimedia Commons through the web interface, as well as uploading tools.

What can we do with maps and data:

If I had the time and something specific in mind, it is possible to work with this sort of data and create a featured picture quality map to go with some article.  I'm thinking of something like this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ph_map_manila.svg  It takes time to do a good job with something like this, but can yield something very high quality.  On the otherhand, we have http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiMiniAtlas/en   It's a good start, but I don't quite like the interface.  Also, the data of the U.S. is coarser in resolution (detail).  Other countries don't have as good data as the U.S., so consideration is needed to deal with that.

Other ways to handle this:

My background is in mapping/GIS, but I have never been happy with how Mediawiki and Wikimedia projects deal with maps and geodata.  I have been thinking through ideas for coming up with a different way to integrate map information and articles.  What works well at the national level may not be suitable for city-level maps (or more detailed than that).  There are also different types of maps - location maps (dots on a map) and thematic maps ( e.g. countries or states color-shaded according to some data value, and other types).  WikiMiniAtlas is not suitable for the latter, but the latter types of maps can be well-suited for an encyclopedia. 

I'm getting ready to work on a project to try out ideas, using local interest (DC) topics, together with map data.  This would be something could be replicated with another place ( e.g. NYC).  A cross between Wikipedia and Wikitravel maybe, in the level of detail and quality of articles (good articles or better).  Expect to get something implemented (off-wiki) by Spring. 

-Aude

On Nov 8, 2007 6:03 PM, Oldak Quill <oldakquill@gmail.com> wrote:
On 08/11/2007, Aude <audevivere@gmail.com> wrote:
> The USGS has various sites, but the best one might be:
>
> http://seamless.usgs.gov/
>
> The imagery here comes in GeoTIFF format which works with GIS/mapping
> programs, as well as should be able to open them in other graphics programs.
>  Also, beware these are large downloads, and there may be some learning
> curve with using the site.
>
> Here, I just uploaded one, which has enough detail that you can see
> individual people (look like ants), vehicles, and such details.
> http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Lincolnmemorial-usgsphoto.jpg
>
> -Aude

Would a mass uploading of such images be of any use to Commons or
Wikimedia more generally? Could it be tied in to any of the geo-coor
projects?

--
Oldak Quill (oldakquill@gmail.com)

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--
Aude