Image: © GEBCO
Since 2014 GEBCO has made its gridded data sets available as a Web Map Service (WMS).
Find out how to access WMS layers for the latest release.
Please note that we are changing the URL names for access to our WMS.
It is intended to remove access to the current WMS URLs from 28th March 2024.
Please see our news page for a list of the changes.
The links below are using the new URLs.
WMS layers for previous grid releases are available from the links below:
Further details
The GEBCO_2021 Grid was published in July 2021 and is available as a Web Map Service (WMS).
Layers are available, for the global elevation map as a shaded relief image or 'flat' map and the GEBCO Type Identifier (TID) grid. These layers can be viewed in a web browser or Geographic Information System (GIS) and incorporated in your own web application.
To access the GEBCO_2021 WMS, enter the following address into your WMS client
https://wms.gebco.net/2021/mapserv?This request returns information about the layers contained in the service, for example, their content and geographic extent. The information is returned in the form of a XML file (you may need to save this to disk to view the information).
The following links provide access to example GetCapabilities calls to GEBCO's WMS.
This request returns a map. Using the information given in the GetCapabilities request, the user can specify parameters such as the required layer, the geographic extent of the map and the size of the returned image.
The GEBCO_2020 Grid was published in May 2020 and is available as a Web Map Service (WMS).
Layers are available, for the global elevation map as a shaded relief image or 'flat' map and the GEBCO Type Identifier (TID) grid. These layers can be viewed in a web browser or Geographic Information System (GIS) and incorporated in your own web application.
To access the GEBCO_2020 WMS, enter the following address into your WMS client
https://wms.gebco.net/2020/mapserv?This request returns information about the layers contained in the service, for example, their content and geographic extent. The information is returned in the form of a XML file (you may need to save this to disk to view the information).
The following links provide access to example GetCapabilities calls to GEBCO's WMS.
This request returns a map. Using the information given in the GetCapabilities request, the user can specify parameters such as the required layer, the geographic extent of the map and the size of the returned image.
The GEBCO_2019 Grid was published in May 2019 and is available as a Web Map Service (WMS).
Layers are available, for the global elevation map as a shaded relief image or 'flat' map and the GEBCO Type Identifier (TID) grid. These layers can be viewed in a web browser or Geographic Information System (GIS) and incorporated in your own web application.
To access the GEBCO_2019 WMS, enter the following address into your WMS client
https://wms.gebco.net/2019/mapserv?This request returns information about the layers contained in the service, for example, their content and geographic extent. The information is returned in the form of a XML file (you may need to save this to disk to view the information).
The following links provide access to example GetCapabilities calls to GEBCO's WMS.
This request returns a map. Using the information given in the GetCapabilities request, the user can specify parameters such as the required layer, the geographic extent of the map and the size of the returned image.
The GEBCO_2014 Grid was published in 2014. To access the WMS layers for the data set, enter the following address into your WMS client
For the global map:
https://wms.gebco.net/2014/mapserv?
For a view centred on the North Pole:
https://wms.gebco.net/north-polar/mapserv?
For a view centred on the South Pole:
https://wms.gebco.net/south-polar/mapserv?
Further details are given below about supported service requests and how to view a WMS are given below.
The following service requests are supported by this WMS
This request returns information about the layers contained in the service, for example, their content and geographic extent.
The following links provide access to example GetCapabilities calls
This request returns a map. Using the information given in the GetCapabilities request, the user can specify parameters such as the required layer, the geographic extent of the map and the size of the returned image.
Retrieves the underlying data values for a pixel location on a map. For the GEBCO Source Identifier (SID) Grid, a link is provided to metadata about the source data set that the GEBCO grid is based on at this location.
The following are example GetFeatureInfo requests for GEBCO's WMS.
The GEBCO_2014 WMS layers are largely based on the GEBCO_2014 Grid.
Within the GEBCO_2014 WMS, the imagery for the land areas is largely taken from the Blue Marble Next Generation data set produced by Reto Stöckli, the US National Aeronautical and Space Administration's (NASA) Earth Observatory (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center). For the region south of 60°S, coastline information is taken from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research's (SCAR) Antarctic Digital Database. Data sets held at the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) were used to define the coverage of glaciers and the Greenland Ice Sheet in the imagery centred on the North Pole.
This differs from the GEBCO_2014 Grid where land areas are largely based on the NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM30) data set.
WMS are designed to allow imagery to be shared over the internet, i.e. within your own application or software package you can access a map hosted on a remote server.
The GetMap request can be used to view a WMS in a web browser. Just cut and paste this URL into your browser to view the WMS image; changing the BBOX values alters the geographic extent of the area viewed.
The GetCapabilities request provides information about the image layers contained in the WMS.
There are a number of commercial and free GIS and mapping-type packages in which you can view WMS. For example Google Earth and ESRI ArcGIS Explorer and a number of Open Source packages.
Please note that the quality of the viewed image may depend on how the software package interprets the WMS.
This WMS has been developed and made available, on behalf of GEBCO, by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC).
Whilst every effort has been made to make sure that the imagery is as error free as possible, BODC and GEBCO give no warranty as to the quality, accuracy or completeness of the imagery contained within this WMS or to the non-interruption or continuation of the service. Furthermore we can give no warranty that this WMS is compatible with any other data with which the material is to be used.
The imagery within this WMS should not be used for navigation or for any purpose relating to safety at sea.