Documentation

Relief maps

This product allows you to get relief maps around the world. Set the position of the sun in parameters and you will receive accurate illumination of the earth’s surface and its relief for these conditions.

You can use Relief maps as a base layer in your maps. Also, you can use Relief maps with our Weather map layers.

This product is a combination of a layer tint (colored raster) and a hillshade.

URL format and Parameters to get Relief maps

Use the following URL format and parameters to get Relief maps. Please pay attention on URL example.

URL format

http://maps.openweathermap.org/maps/2.0/relief/{z}/{x}/{y}

Parameters	Parameters
`z`	required	Number of zoom level. You could find information about correlation between zoom levels, X, Y tile coordinate numbers and level scale here
`x`	required	Number of x tile coordinate. You could find information about correlation between zoom levels, X, Y tile coordinate numbers and level scale here
`y`	required	Number of y tile coordinate. You could find information about correlation between zoom levels, X, Y tile coordinate numbers and level scale here
`appid`	required	Your unique API key (you can always find it on your account page under the "API key" tab)

Optional parameters to configure the layer tint
`opacity`	optional	Degree of relief maps opacity (layer tint and hillshade). Available value from 0 (transparent) to 1 (nontransparent). Default value - 0.8
`palette`	optional	Color palette. You can use custom palettes for each layer. You can also create a palette for yourself and pass it to the URL as follows {value}:{HEX color};..;{value}:{HEX color}. More information about it here.
`fill_bound`	optional	`true` or `false`. If `true`, then all values outside the specified set of palette values will be filled by color corresponding to the nearest specified value. Default value - `false`: all values outside the specified set of palette values are not filled.
`mk_empty`	optional	`true` or `false`. If `true`, then all areas for which there is no relief data (for example, oceans) will be filled with the default color. If `false`, then all areas for which there is no data will be filled with empty tiles. Default value - true

Optional parameters to configure the hillshade
`sun_az`	optional	Azimuth angle of the light source. Degrees, 0° - West, 90° - South, 180° - East, 270° - North. Default value - 315
`sun_el`	optional	Altitude angle of the light source above the horizon. Degrees, 90° - Solar zenith. Default value - 45
`zfactor`	optional	The ratio of spatial coordinates (x, y) to height units (z). The zfactor allows adjusting the units of measure for the (z) units when they are different from the (x,y) units of the input surface. The z-values of the input surface are multiplied by the zfactor when calculating the final output surface. Default value - 0.025
`mix_w`	optional	Degree of layer tint and hillshade opacity. Available value from 0 to 1. If mix_w=0, then layer tint - transparent, hillshade - nontransparent. If mix_w=1, then layer tint - transparent and hillshade - nontransparent. Default value - 0.25

URL example

http://maps.openweathermap.org/maps/2.0/relief/{z}/{x}/{y}?appid={API key}

Please note that you need to insert the generated URL into the special plugins.

For example, Leaflet, OpenLayers. You can also use any other apps that support the display of layers. Learn more

How to pass my palette in Relief maps?

We have custom palettes, but you can use your own palette and pass it to the URL as shown {value}:{HEX color};..;{value}:{HEX color}.

The number of values in the custom palette can be any, but not less than 2. You can set the color for any value with any precision.

To pass the code of color, use the HEX format.

URL example

http://maps.openweathermap.org/maps/2.0/relief/{z}/{x}/{y}?palette=0:FF0000;1000:00FF00;3000:0000FF&appid={API key}

Examples of Relief maps

Layer tint + Hillshade

mix_w : 0.25

fill_bound : false

sun_az : 315

sun_el : 45

Default parameters

URL example

http://maps.openweathermap.org/maps/2.0/relief/{z}/{x}/{y}?appid={API key}

Layer tint

mix_w : 0

fill_bound : false

URL example

http://maps.openweathermap.org/maps/2.0/relief/{z}/{x}/{y}?mix_w=0&appid={API key}

Hillshade

mix_w : 1

fill_bound : false

URL example

http://maps.openweathermap.org/maps/2.0/relief/{z}/{x}/{y}?mix_w=1&appid={API key}

Custom illumination 1

sun_az : 180

sun_el : 135

opacity : 1

fill_bound : false

URL example

http://maps.openweathermap.org/maps/2.0/relief/{z}/{x}/{y}?sun_az=180&sun_el=135&
opacity=1&appid={API key}

Custom illumination 2

sun_az : 0

sun_el : 45

opacity : 1

fill_bound : false

URL example

http://maps.openweathermap.org/maps/2.0/relief/{z}/{x}/{y}?sun_az=0&sun_el=45&
opacity=1&appid={API key}

Libraries to connect Relief maps

Open Layers

The following functions are available for the OpenLayers library:

Classes of weather layer and weather stations layer
Possibility to set your own style
Classes with clustered markers
Support of marker server clustering

Leaflet

The OpenWeatherMap javascript library is designed to work with the Leaflet mapping service. The current version of the library allows the following:

Embedding of layer with current weather in cities
Embedding of layer with weather stations
The library supports customer clustering

Leaflet library

Another implementation of map based on Leaflet technology supports OWM's TileLayers and current city/station data. It is configurable with many options. For current city/station data the library supports refreshing the data in intervals, some types of client-side clustering (show only the station/city with the highest rank for a defined pixel square), custom image set (if you provide one), different languages ("en", "de", "ru", "fr", but translation is incomplete), minZoom and others.

Source and documentation (README.md) is available on GitHub https://github.com/buche/leaflet-openweathermap

Example of weather map: https://github.com/owm-inc/VANE-intro/tree/master/apps

Using OpenWeatherMap weather tiles with leaflet: PDF

Parameters

z

required

Number of zoom level. You could find information about correlation between zoom levels, X, Y tile coordinate numbers and level scale here

x

required

Number of x tile coordinate. You could find information about correlation between zoom levels, X, Y tile coordinate numbers and level scale here

y

required

Number of y tile coordinate. You could find information about correlation between zoom levels, X, Y tile coordinate numbers and level scale here

appid

required

Your unique API key (you can always find it on your account page under the "API key" tab)

Optional parameters to configure the layer tint

opacity

optional

Degree of relief maps opacity (layer tint and hillshade). Available value from 0 (transparent) to 1 (nontransparent). Default value - 0.8

palette

optional

Color palette. You can use custom palettes for each layer. You can also create a palette for yourself and pass it to the URL as follows {value}:{HEX color};..;{value}:{HEX color}. More information about it here.

fill_bound

optional

true or false. If true, then all values outside the specified set of palette values will be filled by color corresponding to the nearest specified value. Default value - false: all values outside the specified set of palette values are not filled.

mk_empty

optional

true or false. If true, then all areas for which there is no relief data (for example, oceans) will be filled with the default color. If false, then all areas for which there is no data will be filled with empty tiles. Default value - true

Optional parameters to configure the hillshade

sun_az

optional

Azimuth angle of the light source. Degrees, 0° - West, 90° - South, 180° - East, 270° - North. Default value - 315

sun_el

optional

Altitude angle of the light source above the horizon. Degrees, 90° - Solar zenith. Default value - 45

zfactor

optional

The ratio of spatial coordinates (x, y) to height units (z). The zfactor allows adjusting the units of measure for the (z) units when they are different from the (x,y) units of the input surface. The z-values of the input surface are multiplied by the zfactor when calculating the final output surface. Default value - 0.025

mix_w

optional

Degree of layer tint and hillshade opacity. Available value from 0 to 1. If mix_w=0, then layer tint - transparent, hillshade - nontransparent. If mix_w=1, then layer tint - transparent and hillshade - nontransparent. Default value - 0.25