The Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS) Web Map Service supports the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) OpenGIS Web Map Service (WMS) Implementation Specifications and dynamically produces maps of georeferenced data. Support of this international standard opens the AfSIS map collection to users who can access its contents via machine-to-machine interaction. View our online maps here.

GetCapabilities Request

The AfSIS WMS uses version 1.1.0. The full GetCapabilities document, including additional layers from the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), is available here:

http://ciesin.columbia.edu/geoserver/ows?service=wms&version=1.1&request...

If you would like the GetCapabilities document for AfSIS layers only (Digital Elevation Model, Specific Catchment Area, and Topographic Wetness Index), it is available at http://africasoils.net/sites/default/files/ows.

Sample GetMap Requests

Specific Catchment Area
http://ciesin.columbia.edu/geoserver/wms?service=WMS&version=1.1.0&reque...

Topographic Wetness Index
http://ciesin.columbia.edu/geoserver/wms?service=WMS&version=1.1.0&reque...

Digital Elevation Model
http://ciesin.columbia.edu/geoserver/wms?service=WMS&version=1.1.0&reque...

As these links illustrate, the WMS GetMap request: (http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/geoserver/wms?service=WMS&version=1.1.0&r...) is followed by a list of variables (layers, styles, bbox, width, height, srs, format). The values for each of these can be specified by the user.

Additional information on open map standards can be found here:

-Web Map Service (Wikipedia)
-OGC OpenGIS Web Map Server Cookbook

Documentation on AfSIS-supported Web Coverage Services coming soon.