I’d like to ask: what is the standard way to tag an airport control tower?
There are many ways to tag them in OSM; it would be best to standardize the approach. See ( osm tag history )
Or is there a better, standardized tagging scheme? aeroway=control_tower + *(scheme 3) is largely deprecated and rarely used nowadays, after the widespread mass tag migration back in 2014.
Surprised and somewhat reassured no application is documented to support it yet aeroway=tower | Tags | OpenStreetMap Taginfo
There were more bulk additions in 2019, 2021, and 2023. 2021 is much larger than others, nearly tripling it. osm tag history
On top of the structure physically, functionally aeroway=tower has problem with distinguishing “Tower” local control, and ground or ramp control towers. I have an idea when looking at area control centers, and virtual towers. Proposal:Air traffic control - OpenStreetMap Wiki
There are some monitoring_station= , aeroway= , and man_made==radar (besides military= )
However, they won’t be usable on the same point. Either another point has to be created, only eg radar=yes can be added, or is it acceptable in airmark=radar as a hack?
I think the proposal is unsuitable for OSM. OSM can map the physical presence of a tower, but how will you know which services (of the many, many listed on the wiki page) are housed in that particular building? Even if you allow published air traffic material as a source (which is debatable), that material will typically only say use this frequency for A, and that frequency for B; it will not say which buildings house the operators for certain frequencies.
I think the whole aeroway=traffic_control topic describes a non-physical concept, not tied to any particular location, and therefore unsuitable for mapping in OSM.
I’m mostly thinking about removing the reference of aeroway=tower to a tower structure, or “Tower” local control. “Tower” can either only control around the runway at larger airports, or everything at smaller ones. Control towers include dedicated ground or ramp control towers.
The listing of only frequency is exactly why I’m not referring to aeronautical charts only. Ramp control are in shorter towers, and often at terminals, which is often not recorded on charts (I remember), and doesn’t belong to the air traffic control authority. Terminal or area control are offices in other buildings, or a larger compound. It’s not much different from how you identify different radars, or add office= (while you may argue private offices shouldn’t be added?). And if there are websites, news, or compatible documents and databases, they can be added, or even imported.
The other functionalities are listed for completeness. They don’t have to be added. Again, they can be added if compatible, and be more stringent on being ground-truth-based if you insist.
Examples
Narita’s new Ramp Central Tower is yet to be drawn (between the =tertiary , =motorway_link , and a building= ) OpenStreetMap
OTG, you see the radar on top of the tower. As, like you, I would say that’s it.
Here specifically we could ask KCAA to confirm that’s the control tower is there, and ask if they want to or allow us to publish under ODbL.
building:part = control_tower rather than building may be also appropriate in some cases from what I see
For mentioned schemas - I also have seen
man_made = tower
service = aircraft_control
tower:type = observation
which I like even less that ones already mentioned.
for my personal poorly informed preferences as someone who never mapped such object:
aeroway=control_tower + building= / building:part= is what I like best but it was mass eliminated by retagging and I do not plan to make attempt to resurrect it
aeroway=tower + building= / building:part= also seems OK
I dislike service=aircraft_tower as such service may be also happening in other place - I prefer to have tag for something more verifiable and harder to dispute.
I should highlight there are supposedly 40 ACC having created (which has the question on terminal control) Tag:aeroway=control_center - OpenStreetMap Wiki
If it doesn’t belong to OSM, you have to remove the name=Air Traffic Control Centre too!? (which is likely not the proper name either)
