It is a standard for exchanging map data between IT Systems.
How does it work?
An institution that wants to publish data creates a WMS server, uploads data and publishes the WMS address at which the data is available.
This address looks like a website address, e.g. the WMS address for data provided by the General Directorate for Environmental Protection looks like this:
What can you do with this link?
In order to properly see the data provided, you need a WMS Client, e.g.
- a QGIS software
- GIS.Box (AquaGIS, ILS)
Once the data has been loaded via WMS, we can view it at will in our favourite application.
Why does it work like this?
Source spatial data is very heavy and changes (updates) frequently. By using WMS, we ensure that the data is always up-to-date (because every time the map is moved, the WMS client asks the WMS server for fresh data) and we don’t have to download all the data (we only get data for the area that is currently being viewed).
Read more:
- A long (rather age-old, but still relevant) article can be found here: WMS. What is it? How do you use it?
- How do you add WMS to a map?