ASF MapServer
ASF has configured a MapServer to better serve our GIS savvy clientele. MapServer is an open source platform for publishing spatial data and interactive mapping applications to the web; a Web Mapping Service. The primary benefit of this server for the ASF user community is the ability to connect directly to ASF’s archived mosaics from your personal GIS environment, specifically from the QGIS or ArcGIS application suites.
All data available through the ASF MapServer is freely available, so you do not need to have a user name and password to access the ASF MapServer from your GIS environment. Below is a table of available datasets and relevant URLs required to connect to the ASF MapServer.
| Dataset | URL | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Global Boreal Forest Mapping Project | http://mapserver.daac.asf.alaska.edu/wms/GBFMP? | North American boreal forest |
| Antarctic Mapping Missions | http://mapserver.daac.asf.alaska.edu/wms/amm? | Antarctica |
| Global Rainforest Mapping Project - Africa | http://mapserver.daac.asf.alaska.edu/wms/GRFMP/africa? | Central and Western Africa; Madagascar |
| Global Rainforest Mapping Project – Central America | http://mapserver.daac.asf.alaska.edu/wms/GRFMP/camerica? | Central America |
| Global Rainforest Mapping Project - Australia | http://mapserver.daac.asf.alaska.edu/wms/GRFMP/australia? | Northern Australia |
| Global Rainforest Mapping Project – South America | http://mapserver.daac.asf.alaska.edu/wms/GRFMP/samerica? | Amazon Basin and the Pantanal |
| Global Rainforest Mapping Project – SE Asia Islands | http://mapserver.daac.asf.alaska.edu/wms/GRFMP/se-asia? | Indonesian region |
| Global Rainforest Mapping Project – SE Asia Mainland | http://mapserver.daac.asf.alaska.edu/wms/GRFMP/seasia-mainland? | Southeast Asia peninsula |
| Base layers | http://mapserver.daac.asf.alaska.edu/wms/baselayers? | NASA Blue Marble; world borders |
QGIS instructions for connecting to the ASF MapServer
Launch QGIS and create a new empty map. In order for QGIS to be able to access imagery from the ASF MapServer, you will need to show QGIS where the WMS server resides. In the QGIS tool bar, select Layer --> Add WMS Layer or click on the Add WMS Layer icon.
The “Add Layer(s) from Server” dialog box will open. Select the New button.
Another modal will appear appear prompting you for to enter the required connection details. (Figure 1)
*Name of the server: MapServer
*URL: enter one of the URLs of the desired datasets listed in the above table.
*Username and Password are not required, neither are the radio button selections
*OK
Click the Connect button after the required information is entered, and the “Create a new WMS connection” dialog closes. You should now see server information populating in the box just below those buttons. (Figure 2)
Select item ID of the data layer you would like to explore in the list supplied, the format you would like it provided to you in (image encoding radio button), and then click the Add button. Choose to add additional layers from the ASF MapServer, or close the dialog box. You should now be able to see and manipulate the processed SAR mosaics in your personal GIS environment.
The SAR mosaics available through the ASF MapServer are distributed as raster data. General metadata about each layer is available under the specific layer’s Properties.
Figure 1 – QGIS - Create a new WMS connection modal
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Figure 2 – QGIS - Add Layer(s) from a Server modal
ArcMap (ESRI®) instructions for connecting to the ASF MapServer
Launch a licensed version of ArcMap, and create a new empty map. In order for ArcMap to be able to access imagery from the ASF MapServer, you will need to show ArcMap where the WMS server resides. To do this, go to your ArcMap Catalog and expand the GIS Servers file. (Figure 3)
Double-click on Add WMS Server; the Add WMS Server dialog will appear.
Add one of the URLs from the above table to the URL text box in the Add WMS Server dialog box.
In the Version box, select version 1.1.1 or lower; the Default Version or 1.3.0 will not display the imagery properly.
Click the Get Layers button and you should see the server list populate the lower box. You do not need to fill out the user name and password. (Figure 4)
Click OK. The dialog box will close and you will be left with your blank map.
Open your ArcMap Catalog and again select GIS Servers in the list displayed to reveal the available datalayers you are connected to through the ASF MapServer. Add your datalayer to the empty data frame in your map by dragging and dropping the layer into your map or Table of Contents to display. NOTE: Not all ASF MapServer data layers are in the same map projection; examine datalayer Properties to determine compatible layers.
You should now be able to see and manipulate the pre-processed mosaics in your personal GIS environment. (Figure 5)
The SAR mosaics available through the ASF MapServer are distributed as raster data. General metadata about each layer is available under the specific layer’s Properties.
Figure 3 – ArcMap
Figure 4 – ArcMap - Add WMS Server modal
Figure 5 – ArcMap - GIS Environment
Other GIS-ready Products from ASF
SAR Data for Terrestrial Ecologists (http://www.asf.alaska.edu/program/sdc/project/terrec)
The purpose of this project was to provide subsets of ALOS PALSAR data for selected field sites, such as flux tower locations, to increase terrestrial ecology users’ understanding of SAR, to make the community more aware of SAR data, and to promote its overall use. This data set provides Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images as GeoTIFFs for 42 selected sites from various terrestrial ecology and meteorological monitoring networks including FLUXNET, AmeriFlux, Long Term Ecological Research (LTER), and the Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net).
