Maps for GPS devices - Kyrgyz Alpine Club

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Maps for GPS devices

mr_ggg 16.07.2021 0 Comments

Data formats of digital maps able to utilize with common GPS devices (such as of Garmin) include .img and .kmz: IMG (Garmin.img) file mainly consists of vector data and therefore relatively lightweight and suitable to cover large areas with contour lines, but if rendering from the original source is not appropriately done, the resulting display may not necessarily be useful depending on the scale. KMZ file, on the other hand, is a zipped package of typical raster image files and KML file (), a type of XML (Extensible Markup Language) documents developed for recording geographic information, and while it tends to be of large size, it may be suitable for specific areas. KML and KMZ files can also be conveniently opened on the Google Earth to view the extents or distributions of the geo-information with respect to the earth.

Considering respective pros and cons, it is recommended to use both sorts of data and switch the maps according to the situation.

OpenTopoMap Garmin Edition

At the moment, no digital topographical maps for Kyrgyzstan has been released by GPS device makers, but generic maps with contour lines are made available for some counntries by the OpenTopoMap Garmin Edition under the license of Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0).

  • ▽Kyrgyzstan [IMGx2>ZIP: 220.7MB]
  • ▽Tajikistan [IMGx2>ZIP: 184.2MB]

    Kartendaten: ©OpenStreetMap-Mitwirkende, SRTM | Kartendarstellung: ©OpenTopoMap

Installation: Unpack the downloaded ZIP file and place the two IMG files of geo-information and contour lines into the “Garmin” folder in the main device, and activate the map through the menu mode.

KAC Original KMZ topographical maps

Kyrgyz Alpine Club has been developing our original maps of Kyrgyzstan and digital topographical maps with contour lines for selected mountain regions in KMZ format. Although it is technically possible to create topographical maps for the entire country, currently we do not have enough resource and facility to provide the service, and thus these maps are distributed on request basis.

Please contact Kyrgyz Alpine Klub, if you need a set of original topographical maps for a specific area.

KMZ topographical maps download

Download: Click one of triangle symbols (▽) below, or select one of the links to open a pop-up window map and click on the map image displayed upon a base map.

KMZ map may take several seconds to show up on the map.

 

Northern Tianshan

Ala-Archa National Nature Park

Installation: Place the KMZ file without unpacking into the “Garmin/CustomMaps” folder in the main device, and activate the map through the menu mode.

Due to the precision of original data (ASTER GDEM), which is subject to the error of approximately ±30m, these maps may be considered accurate up to the scale of 1:50,000.