Downloading Data from WMS Server.... Possible?

[cjrecord21]

I have found a bunch of data that I need on a WMS server, but the server is very unreliable and is frequently down.  Is there ANY way, be it abstract, difficult or otherwise, to somehow download or extract this data so that I have it on my hard drive?  In this case, they are printed maps, rasters.  I suppose I could export the maps and then georeference them myself?  I am guessing the data is in WMS format so that you can't download it?  Just looking for a way around this!  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

J.R.

[jorrarro]

Probably too late for original poster, but for anybody else with similar problem:

It is possible and rather simple.

As you might know, WMS can be accessed through web browser, if you write all necessary parameters into address. And you can download that image using Save As function. Now, doing all this by hand is awfully time-consuming and tiresome. So you could create the links by some kind of function (maybe in Excel) and later feed that list to some kind of downloader (like wget).

As for the parameters, I recommend using GeoTIFF as image format, as it is already georeferenced. Set the height and width to maximum available (usually 2048 pixels).

Bounding box coordinates should be set using a function, so that on file's ending is at next one's start. Map page edge length in real measures (meters, miles, degrees - whatever you have) should be set by original resolution.

Sample request is following (not working, I know, but should give right impression. Replace the server address and layer names with whatever you need):

http://porter.pmel.noaa.gov:8922/wms/wms_servlet?VERSION=1.1.1&REQUEST=GetMap&LAYERS=coads_climatology_cdf:airt&STYLES=&WIDTH=2048&HEIGHT=2048&FORMAT=image/tiff&SRS=EPSG:4326&BBOX=-180.0,-90.0,180.0,90.0

While this is pretty confusing at first, it gets easier when you get the hang of it. After all, it is the only way to use WMS data on cheaper AutoCAD versions.

[yantrademon]

One solution

1. Add in ArcMap the WMS service

2. Go to layout

3. Set data frame properties -> Size and position  With=110 cm Heigh=110 cm

4. Export to georeferenced tiff with resolution 200 dpi (if you have production mapping extension) or export to png and creat world file

Image 8660x8660 pixels with resolution 200 dpi

or Add in Gmap.net (from codeplex.com) the WMS service and get static image with world file

[zagalos]

I thnk Manifold can do that

http://www.georeference.org/doc/linked_images_from_ogc_wms_servers.htm

[cseu]

Various solutions... such as Mobile Atlas Creator http://mobac.sourceforge.net/ (restricted to EPSG:4326), Global Mapper (restricted to 512 pixels tiles) and the most versatile : GDAL. Quite complicated since it's command line only, but supports all types of drivers and projections, even with tiled services :

http://www.gdal.org/frmt_wms.html

[group5e]

The absolute best solution is using globalmapper. Add the WMS feed as custom data source and when it loads up, export to raster. Globalmapper will automatically zoom in to the highest resolution available and create a properly georeferenced tile. I have one computer going on a source for all of Ontario at the moment. The best part is it is automated so you can just let it run.

[cseu]

Yes Global Mapper is the simplest way... but it's not very flexible and in lots of cases it just doesn't do the job (WMS-C with custom resolutions, also lots of servers restricts tiles to 256px size, etc.)

It would be nice to be able to control the scales, resolutions projections and tilesize... however it doesn't seem to be the priority of the developers.

Another flaw : it's also very slow (MOBAC uses various threads to download simultaneous tiles).

In my opinion GDAL is the best.

[sebastiangz]

grass can help out in downloading wms data to your desktop. Think that global mappe can do so.

[geouser]

Another solution, which works directly with ArcGIS is WMS Downloader. It is available as the ArcGIS Addin as well as a standalone Windows app. Disclaimer: I'm one of the coauthors of this add-in and this is a licensed product. Feel free to check the trial version. Check out video tutorial on how to download WMS map tiles directly from ArcGIS: 

Edited December 22, 2015 by geouser

[pasfans01]

check my tutorial and try to figure it by yourself, just ask if you are still confused, 

 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/bl3pYyoziU4

 

 

oh and this ismaybe didnt related to your problem but somewhat it might be related

 

[maggis]

Landviewer can be used as a WMS services and export data to many 3^rd party services. It is also capable of viewing both various RGB combinations and various derived products from source data - multispectral indices (as products of a higher level of processing) as well as working with KML, SHP, GeoJSON files.

As of now, there are already ready-made tools for obtaining multispectral indices, flexible processing of data on AOI, elementary clustering, using a raster calculator, visualization of scenes in 3D using digital elevation models, changes in territories based on multi-temporal multispectral analysis, as well as creating ready-made animations of changes in terrain. And this is just the beginning. Using all the features of the EOS Platform - Storage, Processing, Vision, opens up additional possibilities for flexible and relatively fast processing of huge arrays of multispectral multi-temporal and multi-level data.