Geospatial and Earth observation: standards that apply
The 2 standards listed for geospatial and Earth observation in the registry, each with its status, UNI (Unique Nexus Identifier) and the rules stated in its text.
- Nexus Standards: NS-3, NS-3b, NS-5.
- Open standards: SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC); OGC API – Features – Part 1: Core; OGC API – Records – Part 1: Core; OGC Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF Standard; GeoParquet; Zarr storage specification; NetCDF Climate and Forecast (CF) Metadata Conventions; RFC 7946 The GeoJSON Format; UN-GGIM Integrated Geospatial Information Framework.
- Data and feeds: NASA Common Metadata Repository (CMR) search API; Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem STAC catalogue; geoBoundaries gbOpen; Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL); Natural Earth vector and raster data.
- Couples with: Visualisation, figures and maps; Data and datasets; Real-time and streaming data; Hazards and disaster risk reduction.
- Nexus Standards
- 3
- NS-3, NS-3b, NS-5
- Open standards
- 9
- named, never copied
- Data and feeds
- 5
- listed for reference
- Couplings
- 4
- with other areas
Dataset and product metadata profile (STAC, DCAT, PROV-O)
Status proposed · trust, authorisation and assurance; canonical risk data, records and provenance · NXS-STD-SW-000005.
NS-3b states its requirements in sections rather than in a table of rules.
Figure, map and visualisation standard (with the UI/UX kit)
Status proposed · earth observation and digital twins; visual composition and workflows · NXS-STD-ST-000011.
| Rule | Text |
|---|---|
NS5-R1 | Every visual artefact shall carry a UNI in its metadata and in its caption. |
NS5-R2 | Every rendered value shall trace to record UNIs and to a time of evaluation. |
NS5-R3 | Missing, degraded and insufficient-evidence states shall be rendered explicitly; no such state shall be coerced to a value. |
NS5-R4 | Licence-restricted or withheld features shall be counted and declared on the figure or map. |
NS5-R5 | Every visual artefact shall carry the accessibility and cartographic declarations of section 4 that apply to it. |
Questions and answers.
Are these all the rules for geospatial and Earth observation?
What does a rule identifier such as NS1-R5 denote?
Around geospatial and Earth observation.
Shape the standards for geospatial and earth observation.
Governments, regulators, standards bodies, industry, academia and communities are invited to shape the catalogue ahead of its first official release, targeted for 2030: comment on a draft, propose a change, join a working group or host a field exercise.
Status and use. The Nexus Standards are proposed standards developed through an open process under NS-13 and published for voluntary use; they do not constitute certification, accreditation or regulatory approval, and adoption remains a decision of the Global Standards Council and, in each country, of its National Standards Council. A UNI (Unique Nexus Identifier) identifies an artefact; it does not certify it. Names of standards bodies and their standards belong to their stewards and are used only to identify the documents; no text of an external standard is reproduced here. Nexus Standards is not affiliated with, endorsed by or certified by any standards body named here.
Licences: CC BY 4.0 for standards text, registries, schemas and data; Apache-2.0 for reference code. External standards are cited by name, number and link under their own licences. Third-party data, libraries and fonts keep their own licences: see Third-party notices.