eAtlas WMS: Environmental Map Layers for the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait

A Web Mapping Service delivering over 1500 map layers of environmental research focusing on the Great Barrier Reef, neighbouring coasts, the Wet Tropics rainforests, and Torres Strait. The service is operated by the Australian Institute of Marine Science and co-funded by the National Environmental Research Program Tropical Ecosystems hub. It includes reference datasets from state and federal agencies and is hosted on an Amazon Web Services server using GeoServer version 2.13.

Use Cases

• Visualizing coastal and marine environmental data based on the described map layers for the Great Barrier Reef.
• Providing contextual basemaps for research projects based on the reference datasets sourced from government agencies.
• Integrating geospatial layers into custom mapping portals based on the described WMS service and its cached tile service.

Strengths

• Over 1500 layers available through the service, indicating a broad collection.
• Service has been maintained and updated since 2011, suggesting ongoing development.
• Includes a faster cached tiled service alongside the standard WMS for performance.

Limitations

• The specific data types, column definitions, and row counts for individual layers are unknown.
• Retrieving the full list of layers via the GetCapabilities document can take a while due to the large number of layers.
• License information for the data layers is not provided in the available metadata.

Provenance

Source

Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN).

Collection Method

Web Mapping Service (WMS) via GeoServer, aggregating research and reference datasets.

Time Range

Primary server operational from 2011 onwards.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-16 03:42:38.589464; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Great Barrier Reef, neighbouring coast, Wet Tropics rainforests, Torres Strait (Australia).