Adding OGC Web Services Layers

Introduction

The goal is to provide access to the available map web services standards as defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) 

So far, you can add map layers from public servers for the following services types

• Web Map Service (WMS) for serving georeferenced map images directly from a geographic information system (GIS) database

• Web Map Tile Service (WMTS) for serving pre-rendered (cached) map tile images

In general, these map images are fetched into the Mapping app as map tiles images that would show as overlays on top of the base map

The content of these map services could go from anything to everything, including but not limited to historical cartography, administrative boundaries at different levels, current weather information, oceanographic profiles and much more

Disclaimer: We are not responsible for the information, configuration, availability, reliability or performance of any of these public map services

OGC:WMS layer preferences

First, enable the OGC:WMS layer feature under the add-on Preferences > Layers > OGC:WMS, then set the options

• URL: Full https path to the WMS  server

• Layers: Name of the layers to show as CSV list

• Zoom (minimum & maximum): zoom range where the WMS layer is shown on the map; in most cases these zoom levels are ignored

WMS layers on the Mapping app

The first partial map screenshot is showing a WMS image for land cover in the L48 (USA) as 2019, where

• Url: https://mrlc.gov/geoserver/NLCD_Land_Cover/wms

• Layers: mrlc_display:NLCD_2019_Land_Cover_L48

The other two screenshots are showing WMS images from

• GEBCO colour-shaded topography/bathymetry

• NOAA NWS radar base reflectivity with 3-color bands

OGC:WMTS layer preferences

First, enable the OGC:WMTS layer feature under the add-on Preferences > Layers > OGC:WMS, then set the options

• Type: TileURL or TileJSON depending on availability

• TileURL

  • URL: Full https path to the WMTS  server

  • Layers: Name of the layers to show as CSV list

  • Scheme: Depends on the tiles row/column order ({z}/{x}/{y} or {z}/{y}/{x})

• TileJSON is not OGC standard but readily available and easier to use

  • URL: Full https path to fetch the TileJSON file

• Opacity:  The filling opacity (from 0 to 1) will determine the transparency of this layer, associated with its color intensity

WMTS layers on the Mapping app

• The first partial map screenshot is showing the USGS Hydro Cached using

  • Tile URL: to the default WMTS server

  • Layers: GoogleMapsCompatible

  • Scheme: {z}/{y}/{x}

• The other two partial map screenshots are showing the NOAA imagery using

  • Tile JSON URL: to NOAA IAN Hurricane imagery for several days