ALCC06989: Post-1988 Agricultural Land Classification Survey Maps and Reports

Agricultural Land Classification detailed Post 1988 survey ALCC06989 comprises scanned original paper maps and survey reports for individual sites surveyed between 1989 and 1999 by the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. The data includes the subdivision of Grade 3 land into subgrades 3a and 3b, and for some surveys, unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions. The dataset is provided by the Government Digital Service via the eu_open_data platform.

Use Cases

• Classify agricultural land quality based on the detailed grading methodology described in the survey reports.
• Analyze soil characteristics and land suitability using the available unedited sample point soils data.
• Map land classification grades, including Grade 3 subdivisions, using the scanned original paper maps.
• Compare land quality across different surveyed sites, which were mapped at scales from 1:5,000 to 1:50,000.

Strengths

• Survey data follows the current grading methodology as described in the official 'Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales' publication.
• Includes subdivision of Grade 3 into subgrades 3a and 3b, providing finer granularity.
• For some surveys, unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions are available.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to surveys conducted between 1989 and 1999.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service

Collection Method

Scanned original paper maps and survey reports from detailed site surveys.

Time Range

1989-1999

Geography

Survey sites named Ramsey, Bodsey (likely in England and Wales).