A Web Coverage Service (WCS) is used to openly serve raster data using the OGC WCS specification. For example, you can use WCS to serve the pixel values contained in a multiband raster image. You can add WCS services as raster datasets in ArcMap and ArcGlobe—primarily to add them as map layers and to use them as input to modeling and geoprocessing operations.
After connecting to a WCS server, all the coverages in the service are selected automatically. You can select the WCS service you want to use and add individual WCS coverages as separate WCS layers.
Properties of WCS service layers
Like the raster layer properties, the Layer Properties dialog box for a WCS service layer has five tabs: General, Source, Extent, Display, and Symbology. Unlike a raster layer, a WCS layer doesn't have statistics, color maps, or a raster attribute table.
From the General tab, you can view or change the service layer name, description, and visible scale range. The Description box is initially populated with an abstract, when one is provided by the service. You can change the description for Web Map Service (WMS) service layers. You can also set a scale range for the service layer.
The Source tab provides information about the WCS service layer. This includes the WCS layer's raster properties such as number of bands, cell size, source type, uncompressed size and pixel type, extent, spatial reference, type, URL, and name. The Statistics information is not available, because the WCS layer doesn't contain any statistics information.
The Extent tab displays the full extent and visible extent of the WCS layer.
On the Display tab, you can select options for how the layer is displayed. You can choose the resample methods for the interpolation of the layer when displayed, and you can alter layer effects as well by setting contrast, brightness, and transparency.
The Symbology tab allows you to pick a renderer type to render the WCS layer and change the background and NoData symbology. Only two renderer types are available for a WCS layer: Stretched renderer, which is applied to single-band WCS layers, and RGB Composite renderer, which is applied for a multiple-band WCS layer by default. Just as you do with a raster layer, you can change the parameters or renderer types to render the WCS layer as you want. For example, you can render a multiple-band WCS using Stretched renderer with one of the bands. Since a WCS layer doesn't carry statistic information, by default, no stretch is applied to the renderer, and the layer may seem too dark or bright. To remedy this situation, you can supply custom statistics by either typing the numbers or importing from another raster dataset statistics to render the layer with standard deviation or minimum-maximum stretch type. You can choose a value to be displayed as background in a certain color by checking the Display Background Value check box and typing a background value. You can also specify a color for NoData pixels by choosing a color from the Color Selection dialog box.
- Click the Add Data button
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- Click the Look in drop-down menu and navigate to the GIS Servers folder.
- Double-click GIS Servers. This will give you a list of server connections.
- Scroll down the list until you see the WCS server you want to use.
- Double-click the WCS server you want to access. This will give you a list of available WCS layers in the service.
- Click the desired WCS server to open the list of WCS layers.
- Select one or more WCS layers from the list
- Click Add.
If you don't see the server you want, double-click Add WCS Server.