Styled Layer Descriptor

The OpenGIS® Styled Layer Descriptor (SLD) Profile of the OpenGIS® Web Map Service (WMS) Interface Standard defines an encoding that extends the WMS standard to allow user-defined symbolization and coloring of geographic feature and coverage data. SLD addresses the need for users and software to be able to control the visual portrayal of the geospatial data. The ability to define styling rules requires a styling language that the client and server can both understand. The OpenGIS® Symbology Encoding Standard (SE) provides this language, while the SLD profile of WMS enables the application of SE to WMS layers using extensions of WMS operations. Additionally, SLD defines an operation for standardized access to legend symbols.