Geostratia Atlas of places, history and sources

Sources and methodology

Source first. Interpretation second.

NexaAtlas separates source records, relationships, time and interpretation. Not every source provides the same level of detail. When information cannot be verified, we do not present an assumption as a fact.

Back to the map About the platform

Main source families for Poland

  • GUGiK
    PRNG, PRG, BDOT10k and BDOO for names, administration and topography.
  • PIG-PIB / MIDAS
    Deposits and source-backed regulatory objects related to mining.
  • NID
    Heritage data published under explicit rights and privacy constraints.
  • OpenStreetMap / Geofabrik
    A self-hosted basemap built offline.

This does not mean every record from a source is automatically public. Publication depends on rights, quality, visibility and privacy rules.

1. Acquisition and verification

For every dataset we record its source, version and basic verification information. New data is checked before publication so incorrect or incomplete material does not go straight into the atlas.

2. Rights before publication

Each data source has its own rights and terms of use. Public availability on the internet is not treated as permission for unrestricted republication or full-precision disclosure.

3. Normalize without inventing

Data is organised consistently, but unknown values remain unknown. Conflicting records can coexist. Missing dates, names or relationships are not invented to make a record look complete.

4. Provenance and evidence

Public claims are linked to evidence. Evidence visibility may be public, restricted or private, and the more restrictive visibility rule wins.

5. Time

Historical dates use an explicit temporal model. A name can be valid only for a defined interval. If a source only states when a record version became valid, NexaAtlas does not present that as the creation date of a place, building or feature.

6. Relationships

Relationships between objects prefer explicit source identifiers and reviewed semantics. Geometric proximity alone does not substitute for identity or relationship evidence.

7. Private and public geometry

Exact geometry may remain inside the private boundary. A public representation is a separate publication decision and may intentionally have lower precision.

How to read certainty

NexaAtlas separates concepts that are easy to confuse:

  • source support level describes how strongly the available sources support a record or claim, but it is not automatically a scientific probability;
  • distance is a spatial measurement, not evidence of a relationship;
  • relevance may order candidates but does not mean identification;
  • record version describes the source and does not necessarily describe the beginning of the real-world object's existence.
When two sources disagree, the correct response may be to show both with provenance and the scope of uncertainty.

How the map loads information

The map background opens first, while place details and related information appear when you select them.