Axis ordering

The definition of a spatial reference system includes an indication of the axis order used to interpret the coordinates. There are a number of projected spatial reference systems defined in north/east order in the formal EPSG definition, but are interpreted as being in east/north order by earlier versions of the WFS protocol.

  • WFS 1.0.0: Provides geographic coordinates in east/north and may not be trusted to respect the EPSG definition axis order.

  • WFS 1.1.0: Respects the axis order defined by the EPSG definition.

  • WFS 2.0.0: Respects the axis order defined by the EPSG definition.

Forcing content into east/north order was intended to be easier for developers where computer displays are defined with an x/y order. However this decision has introduced no end of confusion, and was corrected in later versions of WFS.

Note

Some spatial reference systems, for example polar stereographic, do not have an east or west as they have a pole in the middle of the axis.

These differences may cause difficulties when clients switch between different WFS versions. To minimize confusion and increase interoperability, GeoServer has adopted the following guidelines when specifying spatial reference systems to avoid ambiguity.

Representation

Axis order

Interpretation

EPSG:4326

longitude/latitude

assumption

http://www.opengis.net/gml/srs/epsg.xml#xxxx

longitude/latitude

strict

urn:x-ogc:def:crs:EPSG:xxxx

latitude/longitude

strict

urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4326

latitude/longitude

strict

SRSList Axis Order

To compare the spatial reference system definition for EPSG:4326:

  1. Navigate Demos ‣ SRS List page and search for 4326.

  2. Compare the formal EPSG definition of WGS84:

    ../../_images/wgs84-epsg-description.png

    WGS84 EPSG definition

  3. With the internal definition of WGS84:

    ../../_images/wgs84-internal-description.png

    WGS84 Internal definition

The same approach can be used to check the definition of any spatial reference system supported by GeoServer.

Note

The formal EPSG definition provides the axis-order used to interpret coordinate values. GeoServer uses an internal representation that does not always respect the EPSG provided axis order.

In the example above EPSG:4326 is defined with a north/east axis order, while the internal representation has east/north order.

The startup option -Dorg.geotools.referencing.forceXY=true is used to configure GeoServer to prefer an internal representation in east/north axis order. We recommend the default value of true to match a wide range of clients that make this assumption.

Layer Axis Order

The default data directory includes the following dataset illustrating this challenge:

  • shapefile/states.shp`: Data stored in x/y order:

    MULTIPOLYGON (((-121.664154 38.169369,-121.781296 38.066856, ...
    
  • shapefiles/states.prj

    GEOGCS["GCS_WGS_1984",DATUM["WGS_1984",SPHEROID["WGS_1984",6378137,298.257223563]],PRIMEM["Greenwich",0],UNIT["Degree",0.017453292519943295]]
    

    Published as topp:states with Spatial Reference System EPSG:4326.

To review how this layer has been published:

  1. Navigate to the Edit Layer page for topp:states.

  2. Locate Native SRS and click on the GCS_WGS_1984 link to show how GeoServer interpreted the PRJ file above.

    The PRJ did not provide an axis-order and GeoSever has filled in an assumption. This describing the data in x/y order which matches our data and we could use it unmodified.

    ../../_images/native_srs.png

    Native SRS for topp:states

  3. Locate Declared SRS and click on EPSG:WGS 84… link to see the definition used to publish this content.

    This is the internal definition of EPSG:4326 as shown in the SRSList above, which also describes the data in x/y order matching our data. This definition provides slightly more readable names along with additional AUTHORITY information that may be helpful to client applications.

    ../../_images/declared_srs.png

    Declared SRS for topp:states

  4. The SRS Handling is set to Force declared to completely ignore the provided Native SRS definition and use the Declared SRS.

    ../../_images/srs_handling.png

    Force declared SRS handling for topp:states

WFS 1.0 Axis Order

GetCapabilities describes topp:states using:

http://localhost:8080/geoserver/ows?service=wfs&version=1.0.0&request=GetCapabilities

<FeatureType><Name>topp:states</Name>
  <Title>USA Population</Title>
  <Abstract>This is some census data on the states.</Abstract>
  <Keywords>census, united, boundaries, state, states</Keywords>
  <SRS>EPSG:4326</SRS>
  <LatLongBoundingBox minx="-124.731422" miny="24.955967" maxx="-66.969849" maxy="49.371735" />
</FeatureType>

WFS 1.0 describes the latitude / longitude bounds with the understanding that you will associate minx and maxx with longitude, and also miny and maxy with latitude.

WFS 1.0 GetFeature request defaults to GML2 output, and the default EPSG:4326 spatial reference system used to publish the layer:

WFS 1.0 output format GML3

WFS 1.0 output format GML32

WFS 1.1 Axis Order

GetCapabilities describes topp:states using:

http://localhost:8080/geoserver/ows?service=wfs&version=1.1.0&request=GetCapabilities

<FeatureType>
  <Name>topp:states</Name>
  <Title>USA Population</Title>
  <Abstract>This is some census data on the states.</Abstract>
  <ows:Keywords>
    <ows:Keyword>census</ows:Keyword><ows:Keyword>united</ows:Keyword><ows:Keyword>boundaries</ows:Keyword><ows:Keyword>state</ows:Keyword><ows:Keyword>states</ows:Keyword>
  </ows:Keywords>
  <DefaultSRS>urn:x-ogc:def:crs:EPSG:4326</DefaultSRS>
  <ows:WGS84BoundingBox>
    <ows:LowerCorner>-124.731422 24.955967</ows:LowerCorner>
    <ows:UpperCorner>-66.969849 49.371735</ows:UpperCorner>
  </ows:WGS84BoundingBox></FeatureType>

WFS 1.1 describes the WGS84BoundingBox as a lower and upper corner in x/y order.

Warning

This combination is inconsistent with DefaultSRS definition and the LowerCorner and UpperCorner coordinate order and may confuse client applications.

The result matches the WFS 1.1.0 Implementation Specification GetCapabilities examples.

WFS 1.1 GetFeature request defaults to GML3 output, and the default urn:x-ogc:def:crs:EPSG:4326 spatial reference system used to publish the layer:

WFS 1.1 output format GML2

WFS 1.1 output format GML3

WFS 1.1 output format GML32

WFS 2.0 Axis Order

GetCapabilities describes topp:states using:

http://localhost:8080/geoserver/ows?service=wfs&version=2.0.0&request=GetCapabilities

<FeatureType>
  <Name>topp:states</Name>
  <Title>USA Population</Title>
  <Abstract>This is some census data on the states.</Abstract>
  <ows:Keywords>
    <ows:Keyword>census</ows:Keyword><ows:Keyword>united</ows:Keyword><ows:Keyword>boundaries</ows:Keyword><ows:Keyword>state</ows:Keyword><ows:Keyword>states</ows:Keyword>
  </ows:Keywords>
  <DefaultCRS>urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4326</DefaultCRS>
  <ows:WGS84BoundingBox>
    <ows:LowerCorner>-124.731422 24.955967</ows:LowerCorner>
    <ows:UpperCorner>-66.969849 49.371735</ows:UpperCorner>
  </ows:WGS84BoundingBox>
</FeatureType>

WFS 2.0 describes the WGS84BoundingBox as a lower and upper corner in x/y order.

Warning

This combination is inconsistent with DefaultSRS definition definition and the LowerCorner and UpperCorner coordinate order and may confuse client applications.

The result matches the WFS 2.0 GetCapabilities examples.

WFS 2.0 GetFeature request defaults to GML3.2 output, and the default urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4326 spatial reference system used to publish the layer:

WFS 2.0 output format GML2

WFS 2.0 output format GML3

WFS 2.0 output format GML32