SIX Maps being decommissioned?

[johnw]

When I try to access SIX Maps, I now get a pop up with the message below.
I tried Explorer but can't find anything in there equivalent to the SIX Maps topographic viewer.
Currently it still allows you to select SIX Maps from Explorer but displays the same warning as below.
I really hope this is not the end of SIX Maps. Can any of our mapping experts throw any light on what's happening?

NSW SIX Maps

"Discover the New Explorer Platform!

SIX Maps will be decommissioned soon, but you don't have to wait to make the switch!
Try Explorer today for access to more data and enhanced features to simplify your
mapping tasks. We value your input - click the Feedback link in the Explorer top menu
to share your thoughts with us."

[tastrax]

Have a look under Layers/Basemap and change it to Topographic

https://portal.spatial.nsw.gov.au/explorer/index.html

ExplorerTopo.JPG (57.19 KiB) Viewed 16639 times

[johnw]

Hi Phil,
Thanks, but for some reason when I open your link I get a different result as shown below. I can't find anything that matches or points me to what you have.
Also is that the only topographic layer? The current alternate one based on the old paper maps has a lot more detail relevant to bushwalkers.
Any thoughts?

[keithj]

https://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/ still has the Spatial Services topo.
The topo basemap at the URL you are seeing appears to show the ESRI topo which has much less detail than the Spatial Services topo.

I find opentopomap https://opentopomap.org/#map=17/-33.61274/150.41705 is generally better than the official topo maps anyway, and rarely use Spatial Services one.

[tastrax]

Hi Phil,
Thanks, but for some reason when I open your link I get a different result as shown below. I can't find anything that matches or points me to what you have.

Hit the X below the legal menu item and all will appear. There is a topo and hybrid map but they may not contain the same info as the old six maps

[tom_brennan]

Thanks, but for some reason when I open your link I get a different result as shown below. I can't find anything that matches or points me to what you have.
Also is that the only topographic layer? The current alternate one based on the old paper maps has a lot more detail relevant to bushwalkers.
Any thoughts?

It's essentially the same data, but not the same presentation as the Topo Maps (current) tiles in SIXMaps. I personally don't like the new styling. It's hard to see features, especially contour lines (which if it's the Topographic style, is stupid).

There are still various other services out there that use the old topo tiles. My site (https://maps.ozultimate.com) for starters. It has lots of other features - I haven't been to SIXMaps in years! As long as Spatial Services continues to serve the old tiles, there will be ways of accessing them.

[johnw]

Thanks, but for some reason when I open your link I get a different result as shown below. I can't find anything that matches or points me to what you have.
Also is that the only topographic layer? The current alternate one based on the old paper maps has a lot more detail relevant to bushwalkers.
Any thoughts?

It's essentially the same data, but not the same presentation as the Topo Maps (current) tiles in SIXMaps. I personally don't like the new styling. It's hard to see features, especially contour lines (which if it's the Topographic style, is stupid).

There are still various other services out there that use the old topo tiles. My site (https://maps.ozultimate.com) for starters. It has lots of other features - I haven't been to SIXMaps in years! As long as Spatial Services continues to serve the old tiles, there will be ways of accessing them.

Thanks Tom. I don't like the new styling either. I'm pleased that your mapping site will remain and hope that they don't stop serving the old tiles.
I've used it quite a few times and like the way it's rendered. I know I can tweak the display myself but you seem to have found a sweet spot.
A key reason that I still use SIX Maps, is that you can search by feature/location name. Is it possible to add that to maps.ozultimate.com, in addition to the existing map search feature?
I know there are other mapping options, e.g. I have Gaia Maps on my phone which isn't too bad, but I like the old paper map equivalent of the SIX topo view.

[tom_brennan]

A key reason that I still use SIX Maps, is that you can search by feature/location name. Is it possible to add that to maps.ozultimate.com, in addition to the existing map search feature?

I have got a prototype for search, but I've never been happy with it, so haven't added it. There's no good source for features (the SIX maps one has lots of things that bushwalkers don't care about eg homesteads, schools, fire stations ... but not streams!)

You could look at Alex's map tool - it doesn't do editing or GPX files, but does have lots of layers, and includes search:

https://maps.al3x.au/

[johnw]

A key reason that I still use SIX Maps, is that you can search by feature/location name. Is it possible to add that to maps.ozultimate.com, in addition to the existing map search feature?

I have got a prototype for search, but I've never been happy with it, so haven't added it. There's no good source for features (the SIX maps one has lots of things that bushwalkers don't care about eg homesteads, schools, fire stations ... but not streams!)

You could look at Alex's map tool - it doesn't do editing or GPX files, but does have lots of layers, and includes search:

https://maps.al3x.au/

Understood Tom. Yes it's not perfect, but good for planning if you just want to quickly zoom to a general location, e.g. Blackheath, Charlotte Pass et al and go from there.
Wow, a I had a quick look at Alex's mapping tool. That looks great, I'll check it out further.

[Allchin09]

I find opentopomap https://opentopomap.org/#map=17/-33.61274/150.41705 is generally better than the official topo maps anyway, and rarely use Spatial Services one.

Thanks for mentioning OpenTopoMap keithj, I wasn't aware of it. They allow reuse of their tiles so I have now added it as a basemap layer for my https://maps.al3x.au mapping website.

[Allchin09]

Hi Phil,
Thanks, but for some reason when I open your link I get a different result as shown below. I can't find anything that matches or points me to what you have.
Also is that the only topographic layer? The current alternate one based on the old paper maps has a lot more detail relevant to bushwalkers.
Any thoughts?

I see your concern johnw.

I can understand their desire to move away from the Six Maps website. It's a complete custom build and isn't provided by ESRI which hosts all their other maps and mapping technology. They probably have risks around the technology and might not be able to upgrade for security issues, etc.

It would be nice if the replacement was like-for-like in functionality in that SIX Maps is pretty basic but easy and quick to use. The new "Explorer" website has more bells and whistles, particularly the ability to add various other layers. However, I think there are better alternatives out there.

My main concern is that it doesn't seem to have either of the "old" topographic basemaps which SIX Maps provided. They are (what I call) "Six maps topo" and the "Raster topo" layers (called "NSW Map", which is the default option, and "Topo Maps" as an alterative layer you can choose). Maybe they just 'forgot' to add them in. But it could be that they are also intending to stop serving these layers, given they have now introduced the "new" basemaps, which run on quite a different technology.

As some people have raised, the new style of maps are interior to the older style layers in some ways. I might make some enquires with Spatial Services to understand what their plans are.

[Allchin09]

I have sent the below query off to Spatial Services today, let's see what they say

Hello,

I see that SIXMaps is to be decommissioned and replaced with the SDT Explorer.

What I would like to understand is whether the web services which were available in SIXMaps will continue to be available?

The basemaps available in SIXMaps are sourced from the sixmaps arcgis rest server, which also contains a collection of other services.

https://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest ... s/sixmaps/

In particular, I would like to know whether the below three services will continue to exist (for the foreseeable future):
1- LPIMap (the default topographic basemap in SIXMaps) - https://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest ... /MapServer

2- LPITopoMap (a mosaic of the ~series 3 ‘topo maps') - https://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest ... /MapServer

3 - LPITopoMap_S1 (a moasic of the ‘series 1 topo maps’ ) - https://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest ... /MapServer

I know these three services are used either directly via SIXMaps or as layers in other mapping applications. It would be a loss for them to be decommissioned.

I am aware that new ‘vector topo’ services have been released, but I see them as a supplement to, not replacement for, the existing topographic mapping layers. One of the biggest issues with adoption is the lack of support for vector topo layers with other mapping applications. Many are yet to support tile vectors and if they do, the styling isn’t always interpreted correctly due to issues with the way in which ESRI serves vector tiles. In addition, there are many cases where the features themselves, rather than the tiles which represent them, are required. Vector tiles do not provide the data in such as format.

SIXMaps and the web services which it provides have been a great service to map uses in NSW and I’m appreciative of all the great work that Spatial Services does.

Kind regards,

Alex.

[johnw]

Thanks very much Alex for your comments and follow up with Spatial Services. Yes let's see what they say.
Also your earlier comments are spot on and describe my concerns well. I think it would be a travesty if SIX Maps was no more.
Like everyone I do have other options, but they fall short in one way or another in my opinion.

[Allchin09]

This is the response I received today

We don’t have any immediate plan to discontinue all the API services under SIX. However, the URLs may change in future. Any new services or updated URLs can be found on our Spatial Collaboration Portal: https://portal.spatial.nsw.gov.au/porta ... #/homepage

Not a particularly informative response...

The Surveyor General and Executive Director of Spatial Services also engaged with the topic on LinkedIn.

This was her response in relation to a similar question I posed:

I've asked the team to explore whether we can continue to make the historical topo map available, but to be clear the data won't be maintained/updated in that format.

A bit more informative. Sounds as though it's not settled as to whether those services will be continued. Not maintaining them is understandable, but I'm not sure I agree with not providing a raster tiled map with up to date information. Vector tiles should supplement, not replace, as many programs can't use them yet (or properly).

Anyway, let's see how this plays out.

[Allchin09]

Spatial Services has an occasional newsletter which comes out. Latest was today and had sections on both SIX Maps and the SDT replacement

New feature for the Spatial Digital Twin (SDT) Explorer

The new Identify tool is the latest development in the Spatial Digital Twin (SDT) Explorer. This innovative feature enables users to retrieve detailed spatial information by interacting with datasets on a map. Whether you prefer to choose a point, polygon, rectangle, or circle, the Identify tool provides a more flexible, streamlined way of querying data by selecting specific areas and returning results from multiple layers at once.

Once an area is selected, users can access detailed information such as Address, Lot, Suburb, Local Government Area (LGA) and imagery capture dates. The results are conveniently displayed in a table that can be undocked and exported to Excel, while the corresponding areas are highlighted on the map for easy reference.

In addition to this powerful new tool, we’re pleased to share that the SDT Explorer Beta is now accessible across multiple platforms! You can find it on the Spatial Services website and the Spatial Collaboration Portal Map Viewers page, making it easier than ever to explore spatial data and unlock insights.

Reminder: SIX Maps to be retired

As a reminder, SIX Maps will be retired as of Thursday 1 May 2025 – coinciding with the launch of the SDT Explorer product. The SDT Explorer will however adapt functionalities you currently love using in SIX Maps, whilst also adding new and improved features that will help support your needs.

Functionalities such as SCIMS Online, Clip & Ship as well as all the SIX Maps APIs will continue to be available for use. SCIMS Online and Clip & Ship are now accessible via the Spatial Collaboration Portal. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact us via our Customer Hub.

[wildwanderer]

As far as I can see there is no way to download etopos aka geopdfs of existing nsw gov topo maps from the new explorer site? Is that the case?

That's going to be a problem for those who use those geopdfs in various navigation apps.

[tom_brennan]

Check out my latest trips at http://aoacblog.wordpress.com/posts

I'm waiting for more content on the AOAC blog

[tom_brennan]

As far as I can see there is no way to download etopos aka geopdfs of existing nsw gov topo maps from the new explorer site? Is that the case?

That's going to be a problem for those who use those geopdfs in various navigation apps.

Contact the customer hub and ask - I'm sure they intend to transition the PDF maps, but they don't seem to fit in the SDT Explorer.

[johnf]

Contact the customer hub and ask

I got a reply on a number of matters. for eTopo:
You can continue to use e-Topo, but Topographic Maps will provide up to date and past maps.

I am not sure if they are really keeping eTopo but use the alternative.

I also found they have added the old topo map in the SDT Explorer Data section.

Six Topo in SDT Explorer

SixTopo.png (59.56 KiB) Viewed 1646 times

Not sure why it is in data and not a basemap, but it's there.

[Allchin09]

Check out my latest trips at http://aoacblog.wordpress.com/posts

I'm waiting for more content on the AOAC blog

I'd have to go bushwalking first to have some content

As far as I can see there is no way to download etopos aka geopdfs of existing nsw gov topo maps from the new explorer site? Is that the case?

That's going to be a problem for those who use those geopdfs in various navigation apps.

Are you just talking about an easy way to download the topos?

My bushwalking map website https://bushwalkingmaps.com/ has a layer under Overlays > Topo Map Downloads > NSW Topo, which has the topo map index and links to download the various editions and versions.

topo-nsw-map-downloads.png (196.28 KiB) Viewed 1643 times

I've found the SDT to be a bit unintuitive and annoying to use. Eg, when you click on one of the left sidebar options (say to bring up the Basemap selection), I'd expect to be able to click again and it would hide it. Instead, clicking doesn't do anything, you have to click the little X in the top right. Using the Identify feature, you can choose different identification types (lot, suburb, address, etc) but it doesn't keep the selection when you then click again to query another location.

Not sure why the two topo basemaps from six maps aren't available as basemaps. They do have the "raster" topo map available to add as a layer though, just not the other one. And the search to add data is also odd, not may things available, maybe just because it's in Beta, and some are greyed out for some reason. But then when I tried to add two which were available (Live Transport - NSW Trains and the 5m DEM visualisation) neither seem to appear on the map itself.

Anyway, hopefully it improves over time. I'll be using my website for now though.

[duncanm]

As far as I can see there is no way to download etopos aka geopdfs of existing nsw gov topo maps from the new explorer site? Is that the case?

That's going to be a problem for those who use those geopdfs in various navigation apps.

via the "HOWTO" at https://www.spatial.nsw.gov.au/products ... c_maps#geo

https://portal.spatial.nsw.gov.au/porta ... 4048c613c6

[wildwanderer]

Thanks all. Very helpful