Comparison of WCS GetCoverage and SOS GetObservation

The OGC Web Coverage Service (WCS) and Sensor Observation Service (SOS) both provide interfaces for accessing data from sensor networks. GALEON Phase I demonstrated the use of WCS for point coverages although that capability is not yet in the WCS specification. The SOS is designed for near real time “raw” data access from sensors but its data access interface lends itself to accessing historical data from sensor networks. Neither WCS GetCoverage nor SOS GetObservation specification in their current state is currently ideally suited for point sensor network data access. The GetObservation can be viewed as a profile of the GetCoverage that is focused on sensor data. As the SOS and WCS specs move forward, it would seem to make a lot of sense for these two requests to be aligned so that WCS/SOS clients/services can easily make use of the other.

Simon Cox and others have been examining the relationship between WCS and SOS (and WFS). CoxOM.ppt Data Models

We've been comparing SOS GetObservation and WCS GetCoverage and have created a GetObservation interface to the WCS for testing, exploration and demonstration. We used the DataFed WCS for accessing air quality and meteorological sensor network data and built a SOS interface on top of it for testing and evaluation purposes.

Here are a couple of examples followed by a link to a GoogleMaps SOS client