Is short-term server-side caching of Azure Maps Weather radar tiles, and display over a third-party basemap, permitted?

Question

Is short-term server-side caching of Azure Maps Weather radar tiles, and display over a third-party basemap, permitted?

Marcus 20

I'm building a paid consumer weather app that uses Azure Maps Weather radar tiles (tilesetId microsoft.weather.radar.main, Render API version 2024-04-01) on a Gen2 pricing tier.

Architecture: my server fetches radar tiles and caches each frame for about 2 hours (frames are superseded every 5 minutes, so nothing stale is shown). Tiles are decoded to reflectivity values and blended with public government radar sources (NOAA, ECCC, JMA, etc.) into one composited radar layer. That composited layer is displayed over a basemap from a different (non-Azure) map provider.

Two questions about the Azure Maps terms in the Microsoft Product Terms:

Q1. The terms prohibit caching Results "for the purpose of scaling such Results to serve multiple users," while permitting caching to reduce latency within the response-header validity period or 6 months. Does a short-lived server-side cache of weather radar tiles (shared across users, ~2 hour retention) qualify as permitted latency caching?

Q2. The terms prohibit displaying Results on a third-party geographical map database. Does this apply to Weather radar tile overlays shown over a non-Azure basemap?

If this isn't permitted under the standard terms, what license level or agreement would cover this use case?

Marcus 20 Reputation points

2026-07-04T14:44:06.88+00:00

Thanks, but this reads as a restatement of the general terms rather than a determination for the specific case. Could someone from the Azure Maps team confirm Microsoft's official position on weather radar tiles specifically?
Marcus 20 Reputation points

2026-07-06T00:22:02.34+00:00

Thank you, Anshika. Understood on the documentation scope. Could you route this thread to the Azure Maps product team (or share the right contact) for a licensing determination on those two points? They're the deciding factor for whether we keep Azure Maps as our radar provider.
Anshika Varshney 15,625 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-07T13:11:16.5166667+00:00

Hello,

Thank you for the additional context.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide direct contact information for the Azure Maps product team through the Microsoft Q&A forum. Licensing and terms-of-use questions are typically handled through official Microsoft support and sales channels rather than the community forum.

In the meantime, I will continue to review available Azure Maps documentation to see whether there is any published guidance that specifically addresses server-side caching of weather radar tiles and their display over third-party basemaps.

If I find any official documentation covering these licensing scenarios, I will share it here.

Thank you for your patience.
IoTGirl 4,126 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2026-07-07T22:21:11.8566667+00:00

Hi Marcus,

I am from the Microsoft Maps team which includes both Azure Maps and Bing Maps. The prior answers are correct and the use case that does server-side caching violates TOU. Also blending our data with a third party is also outside of TOU.

Q1 Answer: Customer may not cache or store results delivered by the Azure Maps API for the purpose of scaling such Results (as defined below) to serve multiple users, or to circumvent any functionality in Azure Maps, including but not limited to (i) map data tiles, or (ii) information on the calculation of a path between two (2) or more points (“Route”) information (collectively the “Results”). the 6 months only applies to Geocodes

Q2 Answer: Yes it does apply to the Weather data tiles

The suggestion to use public data is a good one but there might be limitations for use in a commercial product. As we are a reseller for Accuweather, you could see if they offer better terms if you use them directly rather than through Azure Maps.

For product specific terms for Azure maps, there was a previous answer that has links https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5602638/azure-maps-terms-and-conditions & https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/terms/productoffering/MicrosoftAzureServices/MOSA#clause-1593-h3-1

Sincerely,

IoTGirl
Anshika Varshney 15,625 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-09T16:20:58.64+00:00

Hello @Marcus

Please let me know if the issue persists after these checks. If you have any remaining questions or need additional details, I’ll be glad to provide further clarification or guidance.

If the above steps resolve your issue, please mark this answer as Accepted so others can easily find the solution.

Thankyou!

Answer accepted by question author

Anshika Varshney 15,625 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello @Marcus

Thank you for your detailed questions. Based on the documentation provided, we can confirm the following:

What the documentation confirms

Azure Maps Weather supports retrieving radar tiles through the Get Map Tile API by setting tilesetId=microsoft.weather.radar.main.
These radar tiles can be rendered as overlays on map imagery.
Azure Maps supports radar and satellite tile animations using time-based tile sets. The documentation describes available historical and forecast radar time windows and the cadence of radar imagery updates.

What the documentation does not confirm

The documentation referenced does not include the Azure Maps Microsoft Product Terms or licensing guidance required to answer the following questions definitively:

Whether a shared server-side cache serving multiple users is permitted under any Azure Maps latency-caching allowances.
Whether Azure Maps weather radar overlays may be displayed on top of a third-party basemap or geographic data source.

As a result, we cannot provide an authoritative licensing or compliance determination for either scenario based solely on the materials provided.

Recommended next step

Since these questions relate to licensing and usage rights rather than technical implementation, the best approach would be to obtain clarification directly from the Azure Maps product team or the appropriate licensing team.

Specifically, clarification is needed regarding:

Multi-user/shared caching of Azure Maps weather radar tiles.
Use of Azure Maps weather overlays on non-Azure basemaps.

References

Azure Maps Weather service FAQ (radar/satellite tile animations): https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/azure-maps/weather-services-faq
Azure Maps Weather service coverage (radar tiles returned by microsoft.weather.radar.main and overlaying): https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/azure-maps/weather-coverage
Azure Maps Weather service concepts (radar color scale; context for radar tiles): https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/azure-maps/weather-services-concepts
For product specific terms for Azure maps, there was a previous answer that has links https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5602638/azure-maps-terms-and-conditions & https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/terms/productoffering/MicrosoftAzureServices/MOSA#clause-1593-h3-1

Note: Based on the documentation provided, we can confirm the availability and usage of radar tile functionality.

Please let me know if there are any remaining questions or additional details, I can help with, I’ll be glad to provide further clarification or guidance.

Thankyou!

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2 additional answers

Your answer

Marcus 20 Reputation points

2026-07-04T14:44:06.88+00:00

Thanks, but this reads as a restatement of the general terms rather than a determination for the specific case. Could someone from the Azure Maps team confirm Microsoft's official position on weather radar tiles specifically?
Marcus 20 Reputation points

2026-07-06T00:22:02.34+00:00

Thank you, Anshika. Understood on the documentation scope. Could you route this thread to the Azure Maps product team (or share the right contact) for a licensing determination on those two points? They're the deciding factor for whether we keep Azure Maps as our radar provider.
Anshika Varshney 15,625 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-07T13:11:16.5166667+00:00

Hello,

Thank you for the additional context.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide direct contact information for the Azure Maps product team through the Microsoft Q&A forum. Licensing and terms-of-use questions are typically handled through official Microsoft support and sales channels rather than the community forum.

In the meantime, I will continue to review available Azure Maps documentation to see whether there is any published guidance that specifically addresses server-side caching of weather radar tiles and their display over third-party basemaps.

If I find any official documentation covering these licensing scenarios, I will share it here.

Thank you for your patience.
IoTGirl 4,126 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2026-07-07T22:21:11.8566667+00:00

Hi Marcus,

I am from the Microsoft Maps team which includes both Azure Maps and Bing Maps. The prior answers are correct and the use case that does server-side caching violates TOU. Also blending our data with a third party is also outside of TOU.

Q1 Answer: Customer may not cache or store results delivered by the Azure Maps API for the purpose of scaling such Results (as defined below) to serve multiple users, or to circumvent any functionality in Azure Maps, including but not limited to (i) map data tiles, or (ii) information on the calculation of a path between two (2) or more points (“Route”) information (collectively the “Results”). the 6 months only applies to Geocodes

Q2 Answer: Yes it does apply to the Weather data tiles

The suggestion to use public data is a good one but there might be limitations for use in a commercial product. As we are a reseller for Accuweather, you could see if they offer better terms if you use them directly rather than through Azure Maps.

For product specific terms for Azure maps, there was a previous answer that has links https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5602638/azure-maps-terms-and-conditions & https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/terms/productoffering/MicrosoftAzureServices/MOSA#clause-1593-h3-1

Sincerely,

IoTGirl
Anshika Varshney 15,625 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-09T16:20:58.64+00:00

Hello @Marcus

Please let me know if the issue persists after these checks. If you have any remaining questions or need additional details, I’ll be glad to provide further clarification or guidance.

If the above steps resolve your issue, please mark this answer as Accepted so others can easily find the solution.

Thankyou!

Answer 1

Hi @Marcus

Thank you for reaching out to us on the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Reviewing your architecture against the official Microsoft Product Terms for Azure Maps reveals two critical compliance roadblocks. Both of your intended implementations conflict with the standard Gen2 licensing model.

## Q1: Does the 2-hour server-side shared cache qualify as permitted latency caching?

No. The standard terms explicitly distinguish between caching to reduce transit latency for an individual session and caching to multiplex data.

The Rule: You are permitted to cache data short-term solely to reduce latency for that specific request flow, tied tightly to the HTTP response headers (such as Cache-Control or Expires).

The Violation: Maintaining a centralized server-side cache that is shared across multiple users specifically to avoid hitting the Azure Maps endpoint for every individual user request violates the prohibition against caching "for the purpose of scaling such Results to serve multiple users." Even though your motivation is freshness (a 2-hour window for 5-minute data), using a single asset fetch to serve $N$ downstream users violates the transactional billing intent of the Gen2 tier.

## Q2: Does the "third-party map database" prohibition apply to overlays on a non-Azure basemap?

Yes. This is one of the strictest boundaries in the Azure Maps terms.

The Rule: You are prohibited from displaying Azure Maps "Results" (which includes the weather radar image tiles) on top of or in conjunction with a third-party geographical map database or basemap (such as Mapbox, Google Maps, or OpenStreetMap controls).

The Violation: By pulling the microsoft.weather.radar.main tiles, decoding them, blending them into a custom composite layer, and rendering that composite over a competitor's basemap, you are violating this cross-platform restriction. Azure Maps data must generally be visualized utilizing the Azure Maps Web/Mobile SDKs or layered over Azure Maps core map tiles.

## How to Cover This Use Case legally

Because your entire business model relies on blending disparate data streams and serving them over a custom/non-Azure basemap, the standard automated Gen2 pay-as-you-go commercial terms will not legally protect your application. You have two primary paths forward:

1. The Enterprise Mobility / Volume Licensing Route

To do this legally with Microsoft data, you need to step outside the standard self-service Azure portal agreements. You must contact Microsoft Sales / Azure Enterprise Licensing to negotiate an Enterprise Amendment or a Volume Licensing Agreement with custom product terms.

Note: Because Azure Maps back-ends its weather data via a strategic partnership with AccuWeather, Microsoft's downstream distribution rights are bound by their vendor agreements. A custom commercial contract will define specific per-user or asset-pooling fees that explicitly grant rights for third-party map combination and server-side aggregation.

2. Architectural Pivot (Alternative Data Sources)

If negotiating a custom enterprise contract with Microsoft isn't viable for your budget or timeline, you should consider sourcing the baseline radar data elsewhere:

Go Direct: Since you are already integrating public government radar sources (NOAA, ECCC, JMA), you can bypass Azure Maps entirely for those regions and pull their raw data feeds directly into your server engine.
Commercial Weather APIs: Providers like AerisWeather, WeatherStack, or Tomorrow.io offer developer licenses specifically tailored for multi-source radar compositing and overlaying onto arbitrary basemaps like Mapbox or Leaflet.Reviewing your architecture against the official Microsoft Product Terms for Azure Maps reveals two critical compliance roadblocks. Both of your intended implementations conflict with the standard Gen2 licensing model.

N/B: I have generated the above answer using co-pilot as an AI tool. Also I have validated and updated the AI output.

I hope these helps. Let me know if you have any further questions or need additional assistance.

Also if these answers your query, do click the "Upvote" and click "Accept the answer" of which might be beneficial to other community members reading this thread.

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