An OGC Web Coverage Service (WCS) returns coverages. A coverage consists of space-varying information. It is a collection of geospatial data, with property values that vary as geographic locations change. Typical examples of coverages are demographic information like population density, weather charts with temperature information, or elevation maps. The information has not been rendered by the server and is intact.
The OGC WCS specification defines a standard interface for the querying of coverages. The LuciadLightspeed WCS client API provides a simple framework for connecting to a WCS and obtaining coverage data from it.