.. draft (mark as complete when complete) .. todo: update screenshot for binglayer. ======================================= Using External Map Services ======================================= QGIS is a standard compliant application, thus, many external mapping data and services can be "consumed" within the application. The most popular external service for map data is Web Map Service (WMS), this is a standard protocol for consuming georeferenced data over the web. In this exercise, we will use several web-based mapping services and integrate them in your QGIS project. .. Note:: You need a working Internet connection in this section. Loading WMS ---------------- 1. To add WMS layer, click :menuselection:`Layer -->` |mActionAddWmsLayer| :guilabel:`Add WMS Layer`. A new window will appear as :guilabel:`Add Layer(s) from a Server`. .. image:: images/addlayersfromaserver.png :align: center :width: 300 pt 2. To add a new WMS server, click :guilabel:`New`. In the :guilabel:`Create a new WMS connection` window, type ``irs.gis-lab.info`` in the :guilabel:`Name` field. In the : guilabel:`URL` field, type (the value below should be in a single line):: http://irs.gis-lab.info/ .. image:: images/newwmsconnection.png :align: center :width: 300 pt .. warning:: External WMS is not always available, hence, reliability is not guaranteed. .. is there a WMS that shows ecology based data? Another WMS we can use is the OpenWeatherMaps http://wms.openweathermap.org/service 3. Click :guilabel:`OK`. A new WMS service is now available. 4. Back to the :guilabel:`Add Layer(s) from a Server` window, select ``irs.gis-lab.info`` --> :guilabel:`Connect`. The list of available layers will be shown. Select the ``landsat`` layer and click :guilabel:`Add`. QGIS will start downloading the map from the WMS server (this will take some time depending on your connection speed and the current load from the server). .. image:: images/addlayersfromaserver_layerlist.png :align: center :width: 300 pt 5. Once downloaded, :guilabel:`Close` the :guilabel:`Add Layer(s) from a Server` window. A new layer will be displayed in your :guilabel:`Map Canvas`. .. image:: images/wmslayer_mapview.png :align: center :width: 300 pt 6. Zoom the map to larger area to see the `Landsat` layer. Drag the WMS layer below the points and line layers. Using the Openlayers plugin -------------------------------- Another way to display external map services is through the Openlayers plugin. The plugin allows you to use several map tiles available from OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Bing and others. 1. Zoom in to a small area. 2. In the Menu, select :menuselection:`Plugins -->` :menuselection:`Openlayers plugin -->` |mActionAddBingLayer| :guilabel:`Add Bing Aerial layer`. A new layer will appear showing the Bing Aerial layer, zoom in closer to view the higher resolution images. .. image:: images/bing_sat_layer.png :align: center :width: 300 pt 3. Load the other layers available in the :guilabel:`Openlayers plugin`. .. note:: The :guilabel:`Openlayers plugin` uses a custom CRS. You can see this in the bottom-right corner of the :guilabel:`Status bar`. The CRS is labeled as ``EPSG:3857`` or the Google Mercator projection. .. warning:: Each time you use an external web service such as a WMS or the layers available in the :guilabel:`Openlayers plugin`, make sure to check the Terms of Use of each service. Most web services have usage restrictions. For example, Google does not allow saving the imagery for offline use. .. raw:: latex \pagebreak[4]