The OGC API family of standards are being developed to make it easy for anyone to provide geospatial data to the web. These standards build upon the legacy of the OGC Web Service standards (WMS, WFS, WCS, WPS, etc.), but define resource-centric APIs that take advantage of modern web development practices. This web page provides information on these standards in a consolidated location.
These standards are being constructed as "building blocks" that can be used to assemble novel APIs for web access to geospatial content. The building blocks are defined not only by the requirements of the specific standards, but also through interoperability prototyping and testing in OGC's Innovation Program.
To learn more about using the OGC APIs please view our guidelines here.
The OGC API Roadmap highlights the current and planned standards efforts as well as related extensions to those standards and Innovation Program and other projects influencing and refining the process of standardization.
For more information on the OGC API standards, please contact us using the form below.
To find out more about the OGC please visit our public site.
The OGC API - Processes Standard provides a means to build simple-to-understand Web APIs through which complex computational tasks - geoprocessing or otherwise - can be executed. The standard allows processes designed by geospatial experts to be integrated into workflows and applications, unlocking the value of data and making it accessible to non-experts.
Are you interested in supporting OGC APIs, or would like to learn more about them? Be a part of OGC's evolution of standards. Download our prospectus now.
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) invites software developers to the July 2022 OGC API Virtual Code Sprint - the Vector Data Code Sprint, to be held from July 12-14, 2022, with a pre-event webinar on June 30. Registration closes July 12.
The Sprint will focus on all parts of OGC API Moving Features, OGC API Routes, OGC API 3D GeoVolumes, and OGC API Features.
For more information visit the Code Sprint website.
Approved Standard
OGC API - Features - Part 1: Core and Part 2: Coordinate Reference Systems by Reference are both publicly available.
OGC API - Common provides those elements shared by most or all of the OGC API standards to ensure consistency across the family. The candidate standard will soon be released for public review.
Approved Standard
Environmental Data Retrieval (EDR) API provides a family of lightweight interfaces to access Environmental Data resources. Each resource addressed by an EDR API maps to a defined query pattern.
OGC API - Records updates OGC’s Catalog Services for the Web by building on the simple access to content in OGC API - Features.
Approved Standard
OGC API - Processes allows for processing tools to be called and combined from many sources and applied to data in other OGC API resources though a simple API.
OGC API - Coverages allows discovery, visualization and query of complex raster stacks and data cubes.
OGC API - Tiles provides extended functionality to other OGC API standards to deliver tiled data, such as Map Tiles.
The OGC API - Styles defines a Web API that enables map servers, clients as well as visual style editors, to manage and fetch styles...
OGC API - Maps offers a modern approach to the OGC Web Map Service (WMS) standard for provision map and raster content.
Enables applications to organise and access data arranged according to a Discrete Global Grid System (DGGS).
Enables applications to request routes in a manner independent of the underlying routing data set, routing engine or algorithm.
OGC API - Joins supports the joining of data, from multiple sources, with feature collections or directly with other input files.
OGC API - Moving Features defines an API that provides access to data representing features that move as rigid bodies.
OGC API - 3D GeoVolumes facilitates efficient discovery of and access to 3D content in multiple formats based on a space-centric perspective.
The executable test suite for Parts 1 and 2 of the OGC API - Features Standard is now available.
The executable test suite for the OGC API - Environmental Data Retrieval Standard is now available in Beta.
More information about Compliance certification is on the OGC website.
OGC continues to use special events, hackathons, and sprints to validate the OGC API draft candidate standards as those standards evolve. By including the broadest possible selection of stakeholders, OGC can be confident that when the standards are published, those standards have already withstood testing and suitability evaluation.
Find out more about this event taking place on July 12-14.
The code sprint begins at 05:00am EDT / 09:00am UTC on July 12, and ends at 03:30pm EDT/ 07:30pm UTC on July 14. .
Register Here (open)
This code sprint will take place in September 2022. The tentative dates are 14th to 16th of September. The tentative location is the Geovation Hub in London, UK. The code sprint will cover OGC API Records, ISO 19115, JSON-FG, and STAC. Hybrid event.
Since their beginning, the SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) specification and OGC API - Features have been evolving together and continually aligning. This post explains the relationship between STAC, OGC API - Features, and OGC itself.
Read blogTogether, the Open Portrayal Framework and the SymCore standard define a modern and modular approach to portrayal based on the intent to have many extensions from a common conceptual model and many encodings of those extensions.
Read blogBy exploiting one of their most precious resources — water — OGC standards helped Kiwis conquer one of their most vexing challenges: disparate data sources. Like so many nations, New Zealand is engaged in a contentious game of environmental tug-of-war.
Read blogOn July 28 and 29, 2020, OGC hosted a virtual sprint to advance the OGC API - Maps candidate standard, one of many APIs being rolled out by the organization to revolutionize how location information is accessed and shared across the industry.
Read blogThe goal of the Open Routing API Pilot was to develop an API that allowed requests for routes from different users in an interoperable and standardized way via Web protocols.
Read blogFurther testing and refinement to the OGC API - Tiles candidate standard - the spiritual successor to one of OGC’s most popular standards, the Web Map Tile Service (WMTS) - has occurred during another successful OGC Sprint. The candidate standard is just one of several efforts forming OGC’s move towards modular, resource-oriented, OpenAPI-based standards.
Read blogAnother step towards the creation of the OGC Environmental Data Retrieval (EDR) API Standard has been completed: the successful testing of some of the API’s capabilities during the OGC Environmental Data Retrieval API Sprint.
Read blogThe OGC API standards rely heavily upon fundamental concepts expressed in OGC White Papers and research and testing performed in Innovation Program activities and documented in Engineering Reports. OGC members are also specifying best practices for the use of web APIs and often share that guidance. The documents below provide some background to OGC API efforts.
The OGC Innovation Program provides a world-recognized process for users of geospatial technology to collaborate and share the advancement of technologies for future enterprise architectures.
If you have an idea for an initiative or simply have a question or comment, contact Ingo Simonis, Head of the OGC Innovation Program.
While the OGC API standards are being developed in concert around common core elements, some older OGC web service standards have been described using OpenAPI. Examples of these legacy enhancements are found below.