Add an online imagery layer to Civillo

Web Map Service (WMS), Web Map Tile Service (WMTS), or Tile Map Service (TMS) provide the ability to visualize geographic data by using standard (or otherwise) protocols for serving geo-referenced map images over the Internet.

These data sources can be added to your Civillo project as online imagery layers.

Creating a new online imagery layer

1. Open your project.
2. In the navigation bar, click Settings. If you are not an administrator, this link has a different name; see The navigation bar.
3. In the left sidebar, under your project’s name, click Layers and then click Create / Revise.
4. Select the WMS/WMTS/XYZ/TMS online imagery layer
5. Give the layer a name.
6. Under Layer type select either:

WMS (Web Map Service)

Select “WMS (Web Map Service)”

7. Enter the WMS URL. Refer to Common WMS online sources
8. Select WMS layer from the dropdown.

WMTS (Web Map Tile Service)

Select “WMTS (Web Map Tile Service)”

7. Enter the WMTS URL.

   This should be an absolute URL to a WMTS capabilities file. This is typically named WMTSCapabilities.xml, like:

   • https://organization.example.com/rest/services/Service/ImageServer/WMTS/1.0.0/WMTSCapabilities.xml

   However, vendor depending, may also look something like:

   • https://example.com/wmts?request=GetCapabilities&service=WMTS
   • https://example.com/api/wmts-capabilities

   Check with your provider for the WMTS capabilities URL.

   The WMTS capabilities file is a service metadata document that contains the following information:

   • Service Metadata - General details about the WMTS service (title, provider, supported formats).
   • Tile Matrix Sets - Defines the grid structure for tiles at different zoom levels.
   • Layer Information - Lists available map layers and their properties.
   • Request Methods - Specifies how clients can request tiles (RESTful, KVP, SOAP).

8. Refresh the layers in the capabilities file. This queries the WMTS capabilities file and fills the following layer select with available layers.

9. Select WMTS layer from the dropdown.

XYZ Tiles (Slippy Map / TMS)

Select either:

• XYZ Tiles / Slippy Map tiling scheme (more common)
• XYZ Tiles / TMS tiling scheme (infrequently used)

7. Enter the WMS URL. Refer to Common XYZ Tiles online sources

Add additional parameters to the online service layer (optional)

Online imagery services such as WMS, WMTS or XYZ slippy maps use zoom levels to describe the level of detail visible within the map.

They are expressed as a number, with higher numbers representing higher resolutions (such as 21, which represents 0.074 meters per pixel) and lower numbers representing lower resolutions (such as 9, which represents approximately 300 meters per pixel).

When adding an online imagery service layer, optional parameters are available to the layer creation.

• Min zoom - the minimum zoom level the layer should be visible. Default values this should be between 10 to 14 based on the source data.
• Max zoom - the maximum zoom level the layer should be visible. If set, this should be around a value of 18, however some higher resolution datasets can be set to 20.
• Tile size - the size of the images (the tiles) used in the online service. The tiles are usually 256x256 pixels and are used to store and serve map data. TMS tiles are typically stored as PNG or JPG images. The default value should be 256.

Add Nearmap WMS imagery

A source of up to date aerial imagery can be provided by Nearmap.

The Nearmap API services allow users to load high-resolution imagery on demand for Civillo projects.

To learn about how to create a Nearmap Web web-service in Civillo, please refer to the Nearmap WMS Integration.

Common WMS online sources

There are a number of organizations and companies that serve Australian WMS maps. These include Geoscience Australia, which offers a range of maps and GIS data for the country, as well as individual State Government departments, each who offer a range of WMS maps.

Source	URL
Victorian Government WMS server	https://opendata.maps.vic.gov.au/geoserver/ows?service=WMS&request=getCapabilities
NSW Geoscientific Data Warehouse	https://gs.geoscience.nsw.gov.au/geoserver/ows?service=wms&version=1.3.0&request=GetCapabilities
Geoscience Australia	https://gaservices.ga.gov.au/
Digital Earth Australia	https://ows.dea.ga.gov.au/

Common XYZ Tiles online sources

Source	URL
ESRI World Satellite imagery	https://services.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}
Open Street Map tiles	https://tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png