Image: © GEBCO
WMS layers are accessible from the following URL:
https://wms.gebco.net/mapserv?
Previous versions of the GEBCO WMS layers will continue to be made available.
The GEBCO grid is available as a Web Map Service (WMS), a means of accessing geo-referenced map images over the internet. These maps can be viewed in a web browser or Geographic Information System (GIS) and incorporated in your own web application.
Layers are available 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.
Please note: the current WMS is based on the GEBCO_2024 Grid.
We are changing the URL names for access to our WMS. Please see our news page for a list of the changes. The links below are using the new WMS URLs.
To access the GEBCO WMS, enter the following address into your WMS client:
https://wms.gebco.net/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.
Please note that the longitude range for the global WMS extends from -180 to 360 degrees to allow plotting centred on 180 degrees.
The following are example GetMap requests for GEBCO's WMS.
WMS layers showing the bathymetry of the Arctic Ocean and Southern Ocean areas are available from the links below. Please provide any feedback on these layers to the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project Global Center (GDACC) .
The data for this region are taken from version 5.0 of the International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean (IBCAO) and included as a regional compilation in the GEBCO_2024 grid. The WMS provides layers displayed in WGS 84 / IBCAO Polar Stereographic projection (EPSG:3996).
Example image from a GetMap call to the Arctic Ocean region WMS
The WMS layers are accessible from the following URL:
https://wms.gebco.net/2024/north-polar/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).
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 following are example GetMap requests for GEBCO's WMS.
This data set was included as a regional compilation in the GEBCO_2024 grid.
The WMS provides layers displayed in WGS 84/ IBCSO Polar Stereographic projection (EPSG: 9354).
Example image from a GetMap call to the Southern Ocean region WMS
The WMS layers are accessible from the following URL:
https://wms.gebco.net/2024/south-polar/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).
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 following are example GetMap requests for GEBCO's WMS.
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.
Please note that the quality of the viewed image may depend on how the software package interprets the WMS.
The GEBCO WMS is largely based on the latest GEBCO Grid. The grid is based on a database of ship-track soundings with interpolation between soundings guided by satellite-derived gravity data. However, in regions where they improve on the existing grid, data sets generated by other methods are included.
Further information can be found in the documentation that accompanies the data set.
Find out how to access WMS layers for previous GEBCO grid releases.
If imagery from the WMS is included in web sites, reports and digital and printed imagery then we request that the source of the data set is acknowledged and be of the form:
Imagery reproduced from the GEBCO_2024 Grid, GEBCO Compilation Group (2024) GEBCO Compilation Group (2024) GEBCO 2024 Grid (doi:10.5285/1c44ce99-0a0d-5f4f-e063-7086abc0ea0f)
GEBCO's WMS have 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.