Projecta: Worksheet -

Section : 1. Introduction to QGIS

Module : 1.8. Working with WMS

Working with WMS in context

“QGIS can connect to remote services allowing you to access the layers and then load them locally as georeferenced raster images.”

WMS describes a protocol designed to serve georeferenced images over the internet. In QGIS you can set up a connection to a remote service and access the data. In some cases, the access to the data is prohibited and you have to acquire authorization to get the data.

In this module, we will explore remote data by accessing it over the WMS protocol.

You try:

Goal: To explore remote layers in QGIS

Click on the WMS connection in the Manage Layers Toolbar or in the Layers menu > Data Source Manager
Alternatively you can use the Browser to create a new WMS connection.
Add the URL using the examples given in the specification. Use the first URL provided.
Select the layer LandCover_2010_DRBC
Select the image encoding to PNG
Add the layer to QGIS and zoom to the extent of the layer.
Inspect the legend of the layer.
Navigate to the symbology of the layer. How can we change the green color in the layer to blue?
Add other layers from the same service you defined above and experiment with the different image encoding.
Add other WMS connections using the URL provided and explore the layers available.

Name	Expectation
NASA	https://imagery.pasda.psu.edu/arcgis/services/pasda/UrbanTreeCanopy_Landcover/MapServer/WmsServer
GEBCO Global	https://www.gebco.net/data_and_products/gebco_web_services/web_map_service/mapserv?
ICPAC	http://geoportal.icpac.net/geoserver/wms?

More about WMS data in QGIS

In this module, we accessed remote data using the WMS protocol and loaded it locally. In order to access the data, users have to be connected to the internet unless the remote server is on the local network. In this module when we clicked on the WMS connection it returned a list of layers in which we choose a single layer or a couple of layers to load them into QGIS. The property of the WMS which we have just used is called GetMap. The WMS protocol has other properties besides the GetMap. Here is a list of the other properties of the WMS listed below.

Property	Use
GetMap	Get a georeferenced map from the server
GetCapabilities	Returns metadata about the service ie CRS of layers and number of layers configured
GetFeatureInfo	Allows users to query the attribute data of a WMS layer at a specific location

Most GIS software has servers which are capable of serving data using the WMS protocol. Below are a few examples

Software	Notes
QGIS Server	Works in sync with QGIS
GeoServer	Nice user interface
MapServer	No GUI. Very fast

Check your knowledge:

Is it possible to change the symbology of the layer being served using WMS:

Yes

Is it possible to change the transparency of layers from WMS:

Yes

Client sensitive data can be accessed through WMS:

WMS is for public data only

Yes, It just needs to be authenticated