Agricultural Land Classification detailed Post 1988 survey ALCR00899

Original paper maps and survey reports for detailed Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) site surveys conducted between 1989 and 1999 by the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The data includes scanned maps at scales from 1:5,000 to 1:50,000, detailed survey reports, and for some sites, unedited soil sample point data and pit descriptions. This dataset is provided by Natural England and contains Ordnance Survey data under Crown copyright.

Use Cases

• Model historical land capability for agricultural planning based on the detailed land grading methodology.
• Analyze soil quality variations based on the available unedited sample point soils data and pit descriptions.
• Study land use change over time by comparing these historical classifications with modern data.
• Train geospatial models for land classification using the high-detail scanned map data.

Strengths

• Uses the current grading methodology as described in the official 'Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales' guidelines.
• Includes subdivision of Grade 3 land into subgrades 3a and 3b for finer granularity.
• Contains high-detail scanned original maps at scales ranging from 1:5,000 to 1:50,000.

Limitations

• Row count, file formats, and column-level documentation are unknown; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Data reflects temporal bias inherent to its 1989-1999 collection period.

Provenance

Source

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (UK), provided by Natural England.

Collection Method

Detailed site surveys, including soil sampling and mapping, following the official ALC methodology.

Time Range

1989 to 1999

Freshness

Data collection occurred between 1989 and 1999; last update date is unknown.

Geography

Specific sites in England and Wales, including the Newport Pagnell, Willen Rd (Milton Keynes Exp Study) area.