PDC Geospatial Information Services
PDC Geospatial Information Services equip disaster managers, planners, governments, and non-governmental organizations with real-time access to map services that can be instantly incorporated into GIS analytical software packages and decision support environments. PDC is committed to fostering data sharing worldwide by serving the data holdings of our organization and those of our data partners according to best-in-class interoperability standards and protocols. The Global Hazards Information Network (GHIN), powered by PDC's geospatial data management environment, is publically available, enabling access to a wide range of high-quality geospatial data resources, including PDC's map services. For more information on GHIN, visit http://ghin.pdc.org.
At present, PDC Geospatial Information Services are available using the WMS and WFS protocols, as well as ESRI ArcIMS image map services. PDC is committed to supporting a wide range of OGC and industry standards for the widest range of interoperability. New technologies, protocols and standards will be introduced on an ongoing basis to address the demands of our data sharing community. Very shortly, these services will be available as ArcGIS Server (AGS) and KML services, for example.
Following are instructions for discovering available services, connecting to these services, and subscribing to the notifications list for users of these services.
Signing Up for PDC Data Services Notifications
Select the link "PdcServiceUpdates" at http://elists.pdc.org. This subscription is a low-volume mailing list (1-2 announcements in a typical month) where PDC posts updates related to new data services and changes to existing services. Typically, any changes that would tend to disrupt an application that is automatically consuming the service will be broadcast to this listserv at least one week in advance.
Viewing the List of Data Services Available along with Links to the Service Metadata
Go to http://ghin.pdc.org and
click on the 
tab.
Scroll down to access the folder labeled "Services." The resulting list includes
Live Data and Maps and Applications. Services are listed under
Live Data and Maps.
Accessing PDC Data Services
Both WMS and WFS protocols begin with a client-side request to the server for information about the service. This request is called "GetCapabilities" and it describes the supported projections, layers, and other details. For example, PDC's Active Hazards Map service, a WFS service, the request is formatted as follows:
http://www.pdc.org/wfs/wfs/PDC_Active_Hazards_WFS?request=getcapabilities&service=WFS&version=1.0.0
The generic request would look like this:
http://www.pdc.org/wfs/wfs/[put service name here]?request=getcapabilities&service=WFS&version=1.0.0
To make a request to a different map service, just change the map service name in the sample (everything between the last slash and the question mark).
The WMS GetCapabilities is conceptually similar, with slight changes in the URL for the WMS request and the map service name:
These sample urls include the latest supported version numbers.
A description of WMS and WFS protocols can be obtained at www.opengeospatial.org.
To connect to the ArcIMS map services, specify an URL of http://www.pdc.org (no username or password are needed). To connect using ESRI ArcCatalog, for example, open the "GIS Servers" node, choose "Add ArcIMS Server" and enter the URL in the dialog box.
Requested Citation
PDC prefers to have its services cited using, where practicable, the triangle-only graphic seen below, and—with or without that graphic—the following statement:
Data from Pacific Disaster Center, http://ghin.pdc.org.
The word "data" in the citation may be replaced with Some data, Layers, Layer x, etc. as appropriate.
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