Suitability of the Osmand Mobile App for Mapping and Monitoring Rural Roads: Supporting SDG 9 Infrastructure and Connectivity Targets

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed to judge whether the free, open-source OSMAND mobile mapping and navigation application is adequate for recording and monitoring rural road data as GPS tracks across a range of terrain types in India, in support of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 on resilient infrastructure and rural connectivity.   Theoretical Framework: Free mobile applications built on the Coarse/Acquisition (C/A) signal broadcast by Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) already underpin much asset-mapping work in rural infrastructure programmes, although dependable, comparative evidence on how well such freely available tools perform for multi-user line-feature data remains scarce.   Method: Field data were gathered across eight training programmes on geoinformatics for rural development functionaries, held in seven Indian states between 2018 and 2020. Participants recorded a selected road as an OSMAND track while travelling by bus or on foot, both outward and, wherever practicable, on the return leg. Tracks captured on every participating device were pooled and jointly examined for proximity and separation using QGIS together with Google Earth Pro.   Results and Discussion: Nine cases were analysed in all: eight roads across seven states, in terrain from hilly to plain, plus one track recorded during a boat journey. Track data typically stayed within roughly 5 to 50 metres of each other, implying a one-sided variation of about 2.5 to 25 metres from the road centre line, largely unaffected by vehicle width, speed, seating arrangement, weather, or time of recording. The tightest clustering, 5 to 10 metres, occurred on plain terrain with fewer obstructions and while walking, whereas hilly terrain under dense tree cover produced the widest spread.   Research Implications: A spread of 5 to 50 metres can reasonably be treated as acceptable for routine mapping and monitoring of rural road assets across the planning, execution, and monitoring stages; in hilly terrain with heavy vegetation, however, dedicated GPS units with stronger signal reception remain preferable, with mobile-derived tracks serving as a fallback reference where such instruments are unavailable. These findings speak directly to SDG Target 9.1 and its Rural Access Index (Indicator 9.1.1), suggesting that free, open-source mobile track data could serve as a low-cost supplementary input for monitoring rural road connectivity where dedicated survey resources are limited.   Originality/Value: Few prior studies appear to have examined how closely multiple users' OSMAND tracks agree with one another for rural road monitoring across such a range of Indian terrain; this study offers practical benchmarks that may help functionaries judge whether free, open-source tools suit routine fieldwork.