Otley Agricultural Land Classification Survey: Detailed Soil Grades and Maps

Post-1988 Agricultural Land Classification survey data for Otley, Midgley Farm in Leeds. The dataset includes scanned original paper maps and survey reports for sites surveyed in detail between 1989 and 1999 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. It provides detailed land grading, including subdivisions of Grade 3, and may contain unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions.

Use Cases

• Map agricultural land quality based on detailed soil grade classifications.
• Analyze soil characteristics for land planning using unedited sample point data.
• Integrate historical land survey maps into modern GIS systems for environmental studies.
• Assess land suitability for farming based on the subdivision of Grade 3 into subgrades 3a and 3b.

Strengths

• Survey data uses the current grading methodology as described in the official Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales.
• Individual sites have been mapped at varying scales and levels of detail, from 1:5,000 to 1:50,000.
• Contains scanned original paper maps and survey reports, preserving historical survey detail.

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 temporal bias inherent to surveys conducted between 1989 and 1999.

Provenance

Source

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), Natural England, Ordnance Survey.

Collection Method

Detailed site surveys conducted between 1989 and 1999, with scanned original paper maps and reports.

Time Range

1989 to 1999

Geography

Otley, Midgley Farm (Leeds U.D.P), England