Feature types

Feature types describe the structure of vector, raster, timeseries, and file data in Nexus. Fetching a single feature type returns a richer response including all properties and - for categorical properties - their available choices. The endpoint is publicly accessible without a token.

Endpoint

curl "https://nexus.stellaspark.com/api/v1/feature_types/"

Query parameters

Parameter	Description
dc_id	Single data connection ID; returns only the feature type linked to that connection, e.g. dc_id=42
locale	Locale for name/description fields, e.g. nl-NL or en-IE. Required when using search.
ordering	Sort order: alias (default), -alias, id, or -id.
search	Case-insensitive search across feature types, properties, and timeseries/raster parameters. Requires locale.
vector	true returns only vector feature types; false returns non-vector types (raster, timeseries, file).
world	Filter by world alias, e.g. world=sandbox. Public worlds are accessible without a token.

Pagination

Results are paginated. The response contains count, next, previous, and results.

Parameter	Default	Maximum	Description
page	1	-	Page number
page_size	10	50	Results per page

Example

List all vector feature types in English:

curl "https://nexus.stellaspark.com/api/v1/feature_types/?vector=true&locale=en-IE"

Response:

{
    "count": 12,
    "next": "https://nexus.stellaspark.com/api/v1/feature_types/?locale=en-IE&page=2&vector=true",
    "previous": null,
    "results": [
        {
            "id": 3,
            "alias": "land_cover",
            "name": "Land cover",
            "description": "Land cover classification of an area.",
            "image": null,
            "deprecated": false,
            "properties": ["category", "polygon"]
        },
        {
            "... etc ..."
        }
    ]
}

Retrieve a single feature type to get full property details including choices:

curl "https://nexus.stellaspark.com/api/v1/feature_types/3/?locale=en-IE"

Response:

{
    "alias": "land_cover",
    "name": "Land cover",
    "description": "Land cover classification of an area.",
    "image": null,
    "deprecated": false,
    "properties": [
        {
            "alias": "category",
            "name": "Category",
            "coltype": "propchoice_fk",
            "unit": null,
            "description": "Land cover category.",
            "deprecated": false,
            "choices": [
                {"alias": "generic", "name": "Generic", "unit": null, "description": "Generic land cover."},
                {"alias": "forest", "name": "Forest", "unit": null, "description": "Forested area."},
                {"alias": "urban", "name": "Urban", "unit": null, "description": "Built-up urban area."},
                {"... etc ...": ""}
            ]
        },
        {
            "alias": "polygon",
            "name": "Polygon",
            "coltype": "geometry",
            "unit": null,
            "description": "Geometry of the land cover area.",
            "deprecated": false
        }
    ]
}

Field reference

Feature type fields

Feature type field	Meaning
id	Unique ID of the feature type
alias	Unique string identifier, e.g. land_cover
name	Display name
description	Description
image	URL of a representative image, or null when no token is provided
deprecated	true if this feature type is no longer actively used
properties	Ordered list of property aliases, e.g. ["category", "polygon"]

Property fields

The detail endpoint (/feature_types/{id}/) returns the same top-level fields as the list endpoint (/feature_types/) except id. However, properties contains full property objects instead of plain alias strings.

Property field	Meaning
alias	Unique string identifier of the property
name	Display name
coltype	Data type, e.g. geometry, text, float8, propchoice_fk, timestamptz
unit	Unit of measurement, or null
description	Description
deprecated	true if this property is no longer actively used
choices	Only present on propchoice_fk properties - ordered list of available choices

Browsing timeseries and raster parameters

Timeseries and raster data use a special parameter property that lists all available measurement parameters - for example precipitation, temperature, or wind speed. To see all available parameters with their name, unit, and description, retrieve the detail endpoint for the relevant feature type.

# All timeseries parameters
curl "https://nexus.stellaspark.com/api/v1/feature_types/43/?locale=en-IE"

# All raster parameters
curl "https://nexus.stellaspark.com/api/v1/feature_types/41/?locale=en-IE"

Example question: Which parameters exist for 'precipitation'?

To find parameters related to a topic, use ?search=:

curl "https://nexus.stellaspark.com/api/v1/feature_types/?search=precipitation&locale=en-IE"

The response shows that both raster and timeseries feature types contain precipitation-related parameters:

{
    "count": 2,
    "next": null,
    "previous": null,
    "results": [
        {
            "id": 41,
            "alias": "raster",
            "name": "Raster",
            "description": "Special Nexus feature type for storing raster metadata",
            "image": null,
            "deprecated": false,
            "properties": [
                "id",
                "dc_id",
                "id_src",
                "timestamp",
                "parameter",
                "quality",
                "location",
                "min",
                "p02",
                "p98",
                "max",
                "polygon"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id": 43,
            "alias": "timeseries",
            "name": "Timeseries",
            "description": "Special Nexus feature type for storing timeseries metadata",
            "image": null,
            "deprecated": false,
            "properties": [
                "id",
                "dc_id",
                "id_src",
                "parameter",
                "feature_id",
                "feature_type",
                "maingroup",
                "subgroup"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Now let's investigate the timeseries (which has id 43, see above):

curl "https://nexus.stellaspark.com/api/v1/feature_types/43/?locale=en-IE"

Looking through the response, we can identify several precipitation-related parameters:

{
    "alias": "timeseries",
    "name": "Timeseries",
    "description": "Special Nexus feature type for storing timeseries metadata",
    "image": null,
    "deprecated": false,
    "properties": [
        {
            "alias": "parameter",
            "name": "Parameter",
            "coltype": "propchoice_fk",
            "unit": null,
            "description": "",
            "deprecated": false,
            "choices": [
                {
                    "alias": "prec_mm_10min",
                    "name": "Prec",
                    "unit": "mm/10min",
                    "description": "Precipitation"
                },
                {
                    "alias": "prec_mm_h",
                    "name": "Prec",
                    "unit": "mm/h",
                    "description": "Precipitation"
                },
                {
                    "alias": "prec_mm_d",
                    "name": "Prec",
                    "unit": "mm/d",
                    "description": "Precipitation"
                },
                {
                    "alias": "spei_1",
                    "name": "SPEI-1",
                    "unit": null,
                    "description": "Standardised Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index"
                },
                {
                    "alias": "prec_def_mm_d",
                    "name": "Prec def",
                    "unit": "mm/d",
                    "description": "Precipitation deficit"
                },
                {
                    "alias": "prec_def_cum_ytd_mm",
                    "name": "Prec def cum YTD",
                    "unit": "mm",
                    "description": "Cumulative precipitation deficit"
                },
                {
                    "alias": "prec_def_knmi_cum_ytd_mm",
                    "name": "Prec def KNMI cum YTD",
                    "unit": "mm",
                    "description": "Cumulative precipitation deficit (KNMI definition)"
                },
                {
                    "alias": "spi_1",
                    "name": "SPI-1",
                    "unit": null,
                    "description": "Standardized Precipitation Index"
                },
                {
                    "alias": "prec_cum_ytd_mm",
                    "name": "Prec cum YTD",
                    "unit": "mm",
                    "description": "Cumulative annual precipitation"
                },
                {"... etc ...": ""}
            ]
        },
        {"... etc ...": ""}
    ]
}