This may be of interest to people wanting a marine context layer to work with.

GEBCO are providing a WMS service of a map rendered from their global bathymetry data, which includes data provided by NIWA for the NZ region. Up until recently this has only worked in the +-180 space, which is of little use to people working around the 180 meridian. I have suggested they provide support for a 0-360 longitude space as well, and we have made some progress towards this. It is a bit fiddly, but at least NZ users can get a relevant map to use.

Information about the GEBCO WMS service is here: http://www.gebco.net/data_and_products/gebco_web_services/web_map_service/

You can see a map in your browser using this URL:

http://www.gebco.net/data_and_products/gebco_web_services/web_map_service/mapserv?request=getmap&service=wms&BBOX=0,-90,360,90&srs=EPSG:4326&format=image/png&layers=gebco_latest&width=900&height=600&version=1.1.1

To use successfully use this service in QGIS across 180, there are some limitations:

• You should be using an EPSG:4326 projection in your map.
• You MUST specify the WMS version to be 1.1.1

To use the service as a layer in your QGIS map:

The service endpoint (URL) for QGIS to access the GEBCO WMS service is:

http://www.gebco.net/data_and_products/gebco_web_services/web_map_service/mapserv?version=1.1.1

• Ensure the QGIS project CRS is set to EPSG:4326.
• When you first connect to the service, the only visible layer (#1) is the +-180 one. with a name of "GEBCO_LATEST" & a title of "WMS for the GEBCO ..."
• If you expand the list (click on the black triangle beside the 1), you'll see a second layer, named & titled "GEBCO_LATEST".
• Select this layer, but before you add it to the map, click the "Change" bar to select the EPSG:4326 CRS for the service.
• Then add it to the map.

This image shows NIWA climate stations (red dots from a public NIWA WFS service) overlaid on the GEBCO WMS layer added to QGIS as described above.

Troubleshooting for inexperienced players:

If you get an error message when trying to connect to this WMS service that the connection has timed out, and this is the first time that you have used a WMS service on QGIS, you will need to set up your network settings with the NIWA proxy details as below: