Using WMS with OpenLayers

Intoduction

The goal of this project is to use freely available Web Map Service (WMS) layers with OpenLayers to create a dynamic map for use within a web browser. In particular, the hope was to include a land use layer for Canada, and the user could browse to a desired location to determine how the land is being used. If the user knows the coordinates of the place they want to view, they can modify the source code by entering the chosen longitude, latitude, and zoom level. Then when loading the map the images will be centered within the map window. For the following example, only GeoBase and Toporama WMS layers are used, and they can be accessed at no cost and without restrictions.

This tutorial contains a brief outline of Web Map Service (WMS) layers and OpenLayers, and then descriptions of the methods used to create the map displayed in Section 4. This includes discussion of the important aspects of the HTML code that generated the resulting map, as well as why the use of OpenLayers is suitable to achieve the desired goals.