Users of the Bureau of Meteorology’s (BoM) Geofabric data can now use a range of proprietary and non-proprietary GIS software, including Google Earth, or their preferred programming language to access Geofabric data via a web application programming interface (API).
The Geofabric registers spatial relationships between important hydrological features such as rivers, water bodies, aquifers and monitoring points.
Web services allow computer systems to interact with the Geofabric over the internet providing interoperability for the product across multiple platforms. For the Geofabric, the services are provided as Web Map Services (WMS) and Web Feature Services (WFS – simple features) and they comply with Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards.
A user guide [PDF link] has been developed to explain how to configure a WMS and WFS connection to the Geofabric. Guidance is available for the following GIS software, all of which support the OGC standards:
- Google Earth
- User-friendly Desktop Internet GIS (uDIG)
- Quantum GIS (QGIS)
- MapInfo
- ESRI ArcGIS Desktop
You can learn more, as well as access the Geofabric and web services at the Bureau of Meteorology website.
