OS maps, the backbone of Britain’s climate adaptation planning
As the intensity and frequency of climate change effects grow, land use and changes continue to evolve, driven by rapid urbanisation, development, and population growth. Maps, both historical and interactive digital versions, allow users to track landscape changes over time and evaluate and project how climate change affects various locations, now and in the future.
The Ordnance Survey (OS) map produced by the British and Irish governments was originally used for military defence and later for outdoor recreation. The first OS map started mapping Britain 230 years ago and has since documented changes in the country’s topography. Today, Ordnance Survey maintains Great Britain’s National Geographic Database (NGD), which powers the country’s most advanced, detailed, and accurate digital maps.
Today, Ordnance Survey maintains Great Britain’s National Geographic Database (NGD), which powers the country’s most advanced, detailed, and accurate digital maps. It contains over 600 million features of the country’s landscape and is updated up to 30,000 times a day, allowing users to monitor and analyse physical changes across Britain.
Remote sensing delivers changes to the NGD by capturing high-resolution images with drones, which are then overlaid on existing maps to show where features have changed. Meanwhile, OS’s 230 surveyors collect location information using specialised equipment and OS Net, our national network of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) base stations. These activities support the world’s most detailed and frequently updated map.
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