Nexus Standards · NS-5 · Proposed
NS-5
NS-5: Figure, map and visualization standard (with the UI/UX kit)
NS-5 is a proposed Nexus Standard; the artifacts it governs are identified by UNIs (Unique Nexus Identifier). NS-5 governs figures (FG), plots (PL), diagrams (DG), photos (PH), map products (MP) and video (VD), and the dashboards and map views that render records live. It covers identity, caption, provenance, honesty, accessibility and cartographic declarations, independently of the tool, library or medium that produces the visual.
Summary
- Statusproposed
- Responsible scopeearth observation and digital twins; visual composition and workflows
- Identifier
NXS-STD-ST-000011 - Rules stated5
- Programme areas4
- Source filesrepository
Nexus Standards · proposed
Status of NS-5
Preparatory working draft, circulated for review and comment. Not for implementation. Prepared and circulated by The Secretariat of the Nexus Standards, Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI Canada) (public@therisk.global), 17 October 2026. Technical review area: TR-03. This document is not a Nexus Standard; it may change without notice and is not to be implemented, relied upon or cited as a Nexus Standard. Its stage is designated only by the Global Standards Council and its technical committees under NS-13. Recipients are invited to submit comments with supporting reasons, and to notify any patent rights of which they are aware. See the notice of circulation.
The land surface from orbit in the Hindu Kush Himalaya
The map frames the Hindu Kush Himalaya as an example geography for a map with relief, imagery and dated layers; the frame gives context and is not a statement of where the standards apply. Shown at first: true colour (VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE). The layer drawer adds land cover type (IGBP), yearly (MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover, MCD12Q1); enhanced vegetation index, rolling 8 days (MODIS Terra EVI); snow cover (VIIRS NOAA-20 NDSI); and sea ice concentration (GHRSST MUR). NASA products are served through NASA GIBS under NASA's open data policy, with acknowledgement; coastlines, boundaries and place names come from NASA GIBS reference layers (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL) and Natural Earth (public domain). Each layer shows its own observation date; full credits are given under the map.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 1
Earth observation
Keyboard, with the map focused
Hold Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll to zoom
Latest available
NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth
Loading the latest NASA imagery.
Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.
True-colour imagery, land cover, vegetation, snow and sea ice, framed on the Hindu Kush Himalaya.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place.
Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONETSources and licences
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- MODIS land products (vegetation indices, gross primary production, land cover), NASA LP DAAC and LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- GHRSST Level 4 MUR analyses, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; distributed by the NASA Physical Oceanography DAAC (PO.DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
- Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
- © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
- Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
- Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
- Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
- NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
- Past year, daily temperature and sunshine (NASA POWER): These data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project funded through the NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program..
- Optional layers (9 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.
Layers and dates
- True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
- Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
- Enhanced vegetation index, rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra EVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
- Snow cover: VIIRS NOAA-20 NDSI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
- Sea ice concentration: GHRSST MUR, NASA JPL PO.DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
NS-5 among the standards.
Fig.The standards on which NS-5 builds, those that cite it and the programme areas where it applies, from the texts and the registry.
The standard as a process
A figure starts from the records it draws; it carries its UNI (Unique Nexus Identifier) in metadata and caption; missing and degraded states are rendered as such; withheld features are counted; accessibility and cartographic declarations are made; the figure record relates to its sources, and a live view states its evaluation instant. 7 operations in 5 phases; each states its actor, its decision rule, the record it leaves and the rule identifiers it implements (6 rules of NS-5 and the standards it applies).
All operations in order (7)
- 01
Records drawn start · Records
The figure lists the records it draws before anything is drawn.
- Who
- the figure author
- Decision rule
- every rendered value traces to record UNIs and a time of evaluation
- Record
- the data cut: record UNIs with versions, time and spatial support
- Implements
- NS5-R2
- 02
UNI and caption step · Identity
The caption states what is shown, the records drawn, the time and spatial support, the method and the claim level.
- Who
- the figure author
- Decision rule
- no visual artifact without a UNI in metadata and caption
- Record
- the figure UNI in metadata and the caption ending with [<UNI>]
- Implements
- NS5-R1
- 03
Render missing gate · States
A missing value is shown as missing; uncertainty is shown where it exists; colour never encodes a status the record does not carry.
- Who
- the renderer
- Decision rule
- nothing is coerced to a value
- Record
- explicit no-data, degraded and insufficient-evidence states
- Implements
- NS5-R3
- 04
Count withheld step · States
Features withheld for licence or protection reasons are counted on the figure, never silently dropped.
- Who
- the renderer
- Decision rule
- withheld features are counted and declared
- Record
- a count of licence-restricted or withheld features on the figure
- Implements
- NS5-R4
- 05
Access declarations gate · Accessibility
Interactive maps expose the same information to keyboard and screen-reader users.
- Who
- the figure author
- Decision rule
- accessibility and cartographic declarations are mandatory
- Record
- palette, text alternative, contrast, CRS, legend, north and scale declared
- Implements
- NS5-R5
- 06
Figure record record · Publication
A map product also relates to its boundary versions and source releases.
- Who
- the publisher of record
- Decision rule
- the figure relates to each dataset, record or run it draws (NS-3b)
- Record
- the figure record with derived-from relations to datasets and boundaries
- Implements
- NS2-R4
- 07
Live view end · Publication
Dashboards and map views that render records live show the instant of evaluation with the values.
- Who
- the rendering surface
- Decision rule
- a live view states when it was evaluated
- Record
- the view with its evaluation instant
- Implements
- NS5-R2
Fig.Phases read left to right; each card names the operation, its actor and the record it leaves, and each edge label names the hand-over. Play, step or scrub; the detail panel gives the full text of the selected operation. Sources: NS-5: Figure, map and visualization standard · NS-2: Citation and attribution format for UNIs.
NS-5 clause by clause
5 clauses and 5 rules as stated in the standard, presented with numbered clauses, stable rule anchors, versions and changes.
Identity and caption
Every visual artifact carries its UNI in its metadata (image or file metadata, and data-nexus-uni on the rendering element) and its caption ends with [<uni>]. The caption states what is shown, the data cut or records it draws (UNIs with versions), the temporal and spatial support, the method and the claim ceiling. A live view shows the evaluation instant and the UNIs of the source records on the surface; no value is shown without its timestamp.
Provenance
The record of a figure relates IsDerivedFrom to each dataset, record or model run it draws (NS-3b, PROV-O). A map product relates to its boundary versions (BD) and its source releases (SR). Withheld or licence-restricted features are counted and stated; they are never dropped silently.
Honesty
Uncertainty is shown where it exists (intervals, ensembles, missingness). The states NO_DATA, DEGRADED and INSUFFICIENT_EVIDENCE are rendered as such, never as zero or as a value. Colour never encodes a readiness or approval status that the record does not carry. Projections, classification methods and class breaks are declared.
Accessibility and cartography
A visual artifact uses colour-vision-safe palettes, provides text alternatives, meets minimum contrast, keeps labels legible at the intended size, shows north and scale where meaningful, declares its coordinate reference system, and has a legend that names units and classes. An interactive map exposes the same information to keyboard and screen-reader users. Captions and text alternatives may be in any language; the UNI is the same in every language.
Rules
| Rule | Text |
|---|---|
| NS5-R1 | Every visual artifact 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 artifact shall carry the accessibility and cartographic declarations of section 4 that apply to it. |
Changes between versions
One published version is available (0.1.0); a comparison between versions is shown once a second version is published.
Clause numbers follow the sections of the document; rule identifiers (NS5-R1, NS5-R2, NS5-R3…) are stable anchors. With script enabled, each clause and rule has a permalink and a machine-readable view (YAML and JSON), and the j and k keys move between clauses.
Programme areas that list NS-5
4 programme areas list NS-5.
Recent research on NS-5
Recent peer-reviewed articles, preprints, datasets and reports on the subject of this standard, retrieved at the time of reading from open scholarly metadata services (OpenAlex, Crossref, DataCite, Zenodo, arXiv, Europe PMC, OpenAIRE Graph) with search terms composed from the registry. Each work is listed with its authors, venue, year, type, open-access status and licence, and links to its DOI or landing page. Sources not yet enabled for live display on this site are listed for reference and are not queried.
Search termsrisk map; hazard map; uncertainty visualization; risk visualization; risk communication; RFC 7946 The GeoJSON Format; OGC GeoPackage Encoding Standardcombined with: visualization; visualisation; map; maps; designDerived from the subject of the standard and its rules, and the external standards of its crosswalk domains.
- OpenAlexlisted for reference; not queried
- Crossreflisted for reference; not queried
- DataCitelisted for reference; not queried
- Zenodolisted for reference; not queried
- arXivlisted for reference; not queried
- Europe PMClisted for reference; not queried
- OpenAIRE Graphlisted for reference; not queried
No source is enabled for live display on this site yet: the sources are listed for reference and none is queried. Once the publisher of record enables a source after its terms are reviewed, recent works are listed here. Metadata and links only: title, authors, venue, year, type, open-access status and licence as each source records them; works are listed for orientation, not reviewed or endorsed.
NS-5 in the standards repository
The text, schemas, machine-readable files, registry rows, tests and history behind NS-5, on the main branch of the canonical repository. Text, registry, schemas and catalog are CC BY 4.0; tools and tests are Apache-2.0.
Source text
| File | What it holds | Links |
|---|---|---|
standards/NS-5-figures-maps-and-visualization.md | NXS-STD-ST-000011 | Raw · History · Suggest an edit |
standards/INDEX.md | status and document of every standard | History |
Machine-readable files
| File | What it holds | Links |
|---|---|---|
catalog/artifact-catalog.yaml | catalog records · 2 mentions | First mention, line 435 |
Registry rows
| File | What it holds | Links |
|---|---|---|
registry/ecosystem-coverage.yaml | Nexus ecosystem coverage register (programme B corpus read) · 58 rows or mentions | Line 147 |
registry/subsites.yaml | Nexus Standards subsites - the systemic architecture of nexustandards.com · 4 rows or mentions | Line 41 |
registry/review-investigations.yaml | Circulation for technical review and comment, and the technical review areas · 2 rows or mentions | Line 68 |
registry/standard-packages.yaml | Standard packages - one package per external open standard on nexustandards.com · 2 rows or mentions | Line 55 |
registry/open-standards-stack.yaml | Open-standards and open-source stack under the UNI · 1 row or mentions | Line 134 |
Tests and validators
| File | What it holds | Links |
|---|---|---|
tools/validate.mjs | tool or validator | Line 150 |
Change history
| File | What it holds | Links |
|---|---|---|
| Commits to the text | every change to the text | · |
CHANGELOG.md | notable changes, by version | · |
release/manifest.json | release manifest with file digests | in-toto statement |
| Releases | tagged releases of the repository | · |
Propose a change
| File | What it holds | Links |
|---|---|---|
| Open a proposal on NS-5 | issue form: target, kind, rationale (NS-13) | Template |
| Issue form: comment | issue form | Template |
| Issue form: errata | issue form | Template |
| Issues that mention NS-5 | open and closed | · |
| Pull request template | what a change must carry: target, kind, rationale, validation | · |
CONTRIBUTING.md | pull requests, sign-off and checks | · |
GOVERNANCE.md | how registry codes and texts change | · |
How NS-5 is developed, and how to take part
NS-5 is developed in the open under NS-13 (the stages and gates of NS-13). Working groups draft, councils decide the reserved matters, and anyone may propose a change, comment, submit an implementation report, object or appeal, without membership or fee.
- Who decides what: the decision-rights matrix.
- The process: stages, gates, review windows and appeals.
- Open gateways and calls: how to propose, comment, join a working group or request activation.
- Develop a standard: the development track and the lifecycle of each standard.
- NS-13 in the canonical repository.
Relation to external standards
NS-5 relates to external standards by identifier, clause number and URL (NS14-R1), and directs the reader to the issuing body.
Recent research and sources
Peer-reviewed articles, preprints, reports and datasets on the subject of this standard, retrieved at the time of reading from open scholarly metadata services (OpenAlex and Crossref) and listed with authors, venue, year, type and access status, with a link to each work. Curated references and related standards are listed first; recent works matched by subject follow and are listed for orientation.
Curated references
- Geodesic Discrete Global Grid Systems
Cartography and Geographic Information Science · 2003 · Peer-reviewed - The Australian Geoscience Data Cube - Foundations and lessons learned
Remote Sensing of Environment · 2017 · Peer-reviewed - Building an Earth Observations Data Cube: lessons learned from the Swiss Data Cube on generating Analysis Ready Data
Big Earth Data · 2017 · Peer-reviewed - OGC API - Features
OGC · 2019 · Standard - The misuse of colour in science communication
Nature Communications · 2020 · Peer-reviewed - Visualizing Uncertainty About the Future
Science · 2011 · Peer-reviewed - Error Bars Considered Harmful: Exploring Alternate Encodings for Mean and Error
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics · 2014 · Peer-reviewed - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2
W3C · 2023 · Standard
Related standards and frameworks
- SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) specification
STAC community; OGC Community Standard 25-004 - OGC GeoPackage Encoding Standard
Open Geospatial Consortium - ISO 19157-1:2023 Geographic information - Data quality - Part 1: General requirements
ISO/TC 211 - OGC API - Features - Part 1: Core
Open Geospatial Consortium - RFC 7946 The GeoJSON Format
IETF - ISO 19115-1:2014 Geographic information - Metadata - Part 1: Fundamentals
ISO/TC 211 - OGC API - Records - Part 1: Core
Open Geospatial Consortium - International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG) interoperability and performance work
UN Office for Outer Space Affairs
Search terms, derived from the subject of the standard and its rules: risk map; hazard map; uncertainty visualization; risk visualization; risk communication; combined with: visualization; visualisation; map; maps; design. With JavaScript enabled, recent works matching these terms are listed from OpenAlex and Crossref.
Risk Academy courses and disciplines
2 courses and 2 disciplines of Risk Academy (risksacademy.com) that teach the knowledge and methods of NS-5. Each course lists its level, stream and learning hours.
Courses
Disciplines
The correspondence between courses, disciplines and the Nexus Standards is maintained with Risk Academy and is subject to its academic review.
Programmes, tracks and courses for this standard
GCRI Canada, The Global Risks Forum (GRF) and Risk Academy work on the subject of NS-5 in distinct roles (research and evidence; governance, policy and convening; education and training). Each entry states why it corresponds and the step it offers; each institution sets its own terms of participation.
Research and evidence
GCRI Canada
Research programmes that produce the observations, models and assessments these records describe.
Space and Earth ObservationStudies geospatial governance and the presentation of satellite evidence.Apply to this programme therisk.globalAll programmes of GCRI CanadaGovernance, policy and convening
The Global Risks Forum (GRF)
Tracks that convene public authorities, researchers and institutions on the governance of shared risks.
Information Integrity and Public TrustWorks on science communication.Join this track globalriskforum.comAll tracks of The Global Risks ForumEducation and training
Risk Academy
Courses and disciplines that teach the knowledge and methods practitioners need to apply these standards.
Earth Observation and GIS for RiskRAT-201 · Introductory · 22 learning hoursMaps, satellites, terrain and open data for hazard and exposure analysis, with four hands-on labsTake this course Uncertainty and ConfidenceRAS-404 · Intermediate · 29.5 learning hoursCalibrated probability, confidence language and decisions under deep uncertaintyTake this course All courses and disciplinesListed in the education and training section of this pageQuestions and answers.
What is the status of NS-5?
What does applying NS-5 establish?
How is a change to NS-5 proposed?
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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 artifact; 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.
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