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Test in Nexus Universe

Test in Nexus Universe

The mission themes Reinsurance and Catastrophe brings to the annual Nexus Universe programme, governed by The Global Risks Forum, with its own website at universe.nexus.

Make an enquiry Back to Reinsurance and Catastrophe
Publisher
The Global Risks Alliance
Field
Insurance and catastrophe, Climate and hazards, Disaster and crisis
  1. 01QuestionNational, regional or institutional priority
  2. 02EvidenceSTEM foundation of the platform
  3. 03BuildNexus Foundry
  4. 04OrganizeNexus Ecosystem
  5. 05TestNexus Universe (independent site)
  6. 06PublishNexus Reports
  7. 07DecideCompetent authorities and institutions, through Nexus Rails
  8. 08RenewCorrections and the next annual agenda
01In brief

The short answer.

Testing in Nexus Universe is how Reinsurance and Catastrophe brings work to the annual programme governed by The Global Risks Forum, with its own site at universe.nexus. Its proposed mission theme is catastrophe model comparison for a hazard season. Selected work is tested under controlled conditions, reviewed and published with its limits; a theme is a proposal, not a confirmed exercise.

02Canvas

Scoping to review.

Canvas · scoping to reviewDesign, not a record
Test in Nexus Universe: an exercise from design to lessonsObjectives and a scenario are designed with the owner; injects are scripted; players respond in cells while controllers and observers watch; a hot wash and an after-action report turn observations into owned improvements. Design of the process, not a record of a run.

Fig.A programme from scoping to the owner's decision. Design, not a record.

03Geography

Hazards and exposure in the Gulf of Mexico coast.

For test in nexus universe, in GRA's spatial-finance reading, the map opens on population density, night lights and flood water with built-up and settlement extent from NASA GIBS, framed on the Gulf of Mexico coast; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 3

Hazards and exposure, for this page

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.

For test in nexus universe, in GRA's spatial-finance reading, the map opens on population density, night lights and flood water with built-up and settlement extent from NASA GIBS, framed on the Gulf of Mexico coast; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place; claim ceiling INTEGRATED.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONET · GDACS · CIESIN/Columbia, NASA SEDAC HBASESources 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
  • Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). CC BY 4.0
  • VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. 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
  • NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), VIIRS 375 m active fire product, NASA LANCE; vector tiles via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • GPM IMERG precipitation, NASA Precipitation Processing System; distributed by the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC); 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). 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 official warnings.
  • Live: GDACS (EC JRC / UN OCHA) Events are indicative, not official warnings.
  • Context: CIESIN/Columbia, NASA SEDAC HBASE. Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University, and NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC): Global Human Built-up And Settlement Extent (HBASE) 2010; Seto, Guneralp and Hutyra 2012, Global Grid of Probabilities of Urban Expansion to 2030; Global Urban Heat Island (UHI) Data Set, 2013.
  • Optional layers (35 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

  • Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
  • Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
  • Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
  • Land surface temperature, day, 8-day composite: VIIRS NOAA-20 Level 3, 8-day, NASA LANCE · 14 Sep 2026
  • Active fires and thermal anomalies, last day: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
  • Precipitation rate, daily mean: GPM IMERG, NASA GES DISC · 12 Oct 2026

04Themes

Mission themes from this field.

  1. 01

    Catastrophe model comparison for a hazard season

    Proposed for controlled testing in the annual programme; a theme is not a confirmed exercise.

05Exercise design

Reinsurance and Catastrophe in Nexus Universe.

ExerciseInjects designed by Reinsurance and Catastrophe
Catastrophe model comparison for a hazard seasontwo hurricanes in one season, a secondary-peril wildfire year and retrocession capacity tightens

Nexus Universe is governed by GRF; see exercises and learning. Reinsurance and Catastrophe injects use synthetic values.

Reinsurance and Catastrophe exercises test catastrophe loss, risk transfer and capital, with decisions left to the participants who hold them, such as hazard scientists working with insurers.

06How testing works

Controlled, reviewed and reversible.

Selected work is tested under controlled conditions, reviewed and then published with its limits. Results that pass go to Nexus Reports. The planned stand-down of each edition keeps review, reconciliation and corrections going after the event.

07Key terms

Terms used on this page.

Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.

TermDefinition
Mission themeA subject a platform proposes for controlled testing in the annual Nexus Universe programme; a theme is a proposal until the programme confirms an exercise.
Simulation exerciseA practice, training or evaluation activity in which an emergency is described or simulated and participants respond as they would in reality, so that plans and capacities can be tested, as WHO's exercise manual describes.
Tabletop exerciseA discussion-based exercise in which participants talk through decisions in response to a scenario.
After-action reviewA structured discussion after an activity of what was planned, what happened, why, and what to change.
08Sources

Where this page's references lead.

The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.

09Connected

Where this page leads across the Consortium.

10Questions

Questions and answers.

Where is Nexus Universe?
It has its own website at universe.nexus. GRF governs the programme.
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Around Reinsurance and Catastrophe.

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