d.osm - GRASS manual

NAME

d.osm - Fetch OSM features (military installations, checkpoints, power infrastructure, communications towers) from Overpass for the current region and display them.

KEYWORDS

display, vector, OSM, OSINT

SYNOPSIS

d.osm

d.osm --help

d.osm [types=string[,string,...]] [output=name] [format=string] [size=integer] [endpoint=string] [timeout=integer] [--overwrite] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

Flags:

--overwrite: Allow output files to overwrite existing files
--help: Print usage summary
--verbose: Verbose module output
--quiet: Quiet module output
--ui: Force launching GUI dialog

Parameters:

types=string[,string,...]: Which feature types to query (default: all); Options: military_airfield, military_base, bunker, naval_base, training_area, checkpoint, border_control, power_plant, substation, communications_tower, civilian_airport, port_harbour, ferry_terminal, railway_station, toll_booth, bridge, tunnel
output=name: Name for the imported vector map; Default: osm
format=string: symbols renders each feature type with its icon; attributes only prints the matching attribute table; Options: symbols, attributes; Default: symbols
size=integer: Symbol size in format=symbols mode; Default: 20
endpoint=string: Overpass API endpoint URL; Default: https://overpass-api.de/api/interpreter
timeout=integer: Overpass query timeout in seconds; Default: 60

DESCRIPTION
NOTES
EXAMPLES
SEE ALSO
AUTHORS

DESCRIPTION

d.osm fetches OSINT-relevant OpenStreetMap features -- military installations, checkpoints, power infrastructure, communications towers, and transportation chokepoints -- live from the public Overpass API for the current GRASS computational region, and displays them with pre-baked GRASS symbols shipped with this addon. Seventeen feature types are recognized:

type	OSM tag
military_airfield	`military=airfield`
military_base	`military=base`
bunker	`military=bunker`
naval_base	`military=naval_base`
training_area	`military=training_area`
checkpoint	`barrier=checkpoint`
border_control	`amenity=border_control`
power_plant	`power=plant`
substation	`power=substation`
communications_tower	`man_made=communications_tower`
civilian_airport	`aeroway=aerodrome`
port_harbour	`harbour=yes`
ferry_terminal	`amenity=ferry_terminal`
railway_station	`railway=station`
toll_booth	`barrier=toll_booth`
bridge	`bridge=yes` + (`highway=` or `railway=`)
tunnel	`tunnel=yes` + (`highway=` or `railway=`)

bridge and tunnel are the two exceptions to "one OSM tag per type": in OSM these are modifier tags on a road/rail way, not a standalone tag=value pair, so matching requires both the modifier tag and a carrier tag (highway or railway, any value) on the same element -- bridge=yes alone (e.g. on a building) does not match. Unlike the d.osint addon, d.osm has no local database -- every run queries Overpass live for whatever region is currently set with g.region (reprojected to lat/lon automatically, regardless of the current project's CRS), and nothing is cached between runs. It also has no dependency on any other project's code: only the Python standard library and grass.script are used, and all 17 GRASS symbol files are embedded as static text generated once, ahead of time -- there is no live SVG-to-symbol conversion step at runtime.

NOTES

Query results depend entirely on how thoroughly the current region has been mapped in OpenStreetMap -- absence of a symbol on the map is not evidence of absence in reality.
Be considerate of the shared public Overpass endpoint: avoid very large regions or tight repeated polling. Use endpoint= to point at a different Overpass mirror or a self-hosted instance if you need heavier use.
With format=symbols, one d.vect call is issued per distinct feature type present in the result set, so mixed-type results render with the correct icon per point.
If Overpass returns nothing for the current region, an empty vector map is still created (so subsequent commands referencing output= don't fail), and a warning is printed rather than treating "found nothing" as an error.

EXAMPLES

Show every recognized feature type in the current region:

g.region region=my_area_of_interest
d.mon start=cairo
d.osm

Only checkpoints and border crossings, as an attribute table:

d.osm types=checkpoint,border_control format=attributes

Query against a self-hosted Overpass instance:

d.osm endpoint=http://localhost:12345/api/interpreter

AUTHORS

Yann Chemin

SOURCE CODE

Available at: d.osm source code (history)

Accessed: Monday Jul 27 12:22:20 2026