OGC adopts Two Dimensional Tile Matrix Set standard

The Tile Matrix Set concept, initially developed in WMTS 1.0, is now provided as an independent standard that can be referenced by other standards

5 November 2019: The membership of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has approved the Two Dimensional Tile Matrix Set standard for adoption as an OGC standard.

The OGC Two Dimensional Tile Matrix Set standard defines the rules and requirements for a two dimensional tile matrix set as a way to index space using a set of regular grids defining a domain (tile matrix) for a limited list of scales in a Coordinate Reference System (CRS), as defined in OGC Abstract Specification Topic 2: Spatial Referencing by Coordinates. 

In 2007, OGC approved and released the Web Map Tile Service standard (WMTS), which provides a definition of a “tile matrix set” as well as a tile service for a more efficient visualization of data over the web. Over time, other standards dealing with tiles in other ways needed to use the same definition. However, these OGC standards could not use the tile matrix set definition directly because the definition was formally linked to the tile service. The OGC Two Dimensional Tile Matrix Set standard frees the concept of a tile matrix set from the WMTS standard so that other standards can reference the concept directly. 

The standard includes the concepts of a tile matrix set and tile matrix set limits as well as their implementation in 2D space and describes an XML and JSON encoding. The standard also contains a new library of eight global tile matrix set definitions that are expected to be widely used, improving easy tile overlay in visualization clients. Used in combination with tile matrix set limits, this reduces the need for user defined tile matrix sets.

As with any OGC standard, the open Two Dimensional Tile Matrix Set standard is free to download and implement. Interested parties can view and download the standard from OGC’s Two Dimensional Tile Matrix Set Standard Page.

About OGC

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is an international consortium of more than 530 businesses, government agencies, research organizations, and universities driven to make geospatial (location) information and services FAIR - Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.

OGC’s member-driven consensus process creates royalty free, publicly available geospatial standards. Existing at the cutting edge, OGC actively analyzes and anticipates emerging tech trends, and runs an agile, collaborative Research and Development (R&D) lab that builds and tests innovative prototype solutions to members' use cases.

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