The WMS GetMap operation is intended for producing images of a two-dimensional horizontal extent of data.
ncWMS generates timeseries plots through GetFeatureInfo (as described above) and implements custom operations for generating other types of visualization, including vertical profiles (GetVerticalProfile), transects (GetTransect) and vertical sections (GetVerticalSection) – see Fig. 1 for examples.
Other approaches proposed by developers include overloading GetMap or defining a single GetVisualization operation to encompass all visualization types; however, we believe that new operations can be defined more clearly and with less ambiguity than attempting to reuse the same operation for different purposes.