Web Map Service

This standard provides a simple HTTP interface for requesting geo-registered map images from one or more distributed geospatial databases. A WMS request defines the geographic layer(s) and area of interest to be processed. The response to the request is one or more geo-registered map images (returned as JPEG, PNG, etc) that can be displayed in a browser application.

Documents

(Hover over Type for full description)
Document title Version OGC Doc No. Type
OpenGIS Web Map Service (WMS) Implementation Specification 1.3.0 06-042 IS
Web Map Services – Application Profile for EO Products 07-063r1 BP
Web Map Services – Application Profile for EO Products 07-063 D-BP
OpenGIS Web Map Services – Application Profile for EO Products 06-093 D-DP
Defence Profile of OGC Web Map Service 1.3 Revision 09-102r3 BP
DGIWG WMS 1.3 Profile and systems requirements for interoperability for use within a military environment 09-102 BP
OpenGIS Tiled WMS Discussion Paper 07-057r2 D-DP
OGC Best Practice for using Web Map Services (WMS) with Time-Dependent or Elevation-Dependent Data 12-111r1 BP
Web Map Service 1.3.0 03-109r1 D-RP
OpenGIS Web Map Service (WMS) Implementation Specification 1.3.0 06-042 IS
Web Map Service 1.1.1 01-068r3 D-IS
Web Map Service 1.1 01-047r2 D-IS
Web Map Service 1.0 00-028 D-IS
WMS – Proposed Animation Service Extension 0.9 06-045r1 DP
WMS Change Request: Support for WSDL & SOAP 0.1.0 04-050r1 DP
WMS Part 2: XML for Requests using HTTP Post 0.0.3 02-017r1 DP

Official model files and encoding schemas

Official Schemas

http://schemas.opengis.net/wms/

Note: You may also download in a single zip file.
Download All Official OGC Schemas

Submit a Change Request, Requirement, or Comment for this OGC standard.

Related links

2012-11-16
OGC Requests Web Map Service Clients (WMS) Reference Implementations 

2006-04-12
The Open Geospatial Consortium’s Web Map Service (WMS) Approved as International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standard

Go To OGC Press Page

Overview

The OpenGIS® Web Map Service Interface Standard (WMS) provides a simple HTTP interface for requesting geo-registered map images from one or more distributed geospatial databases. A WMS request defines the geographic layer(s) and area of interest to be processed. The response to the request is one or more geo-registered map images (returned as JPEG, PNG, etc) that can be displayed in a browser application. The interface also supports the ability to specify whether the returned images should be transparent so that layers from multiple servers can be combined or not.

NOTE: WMS 1.3 and ISO 19128 are the same documents.