Agricultural Land Classification Survey for Bicester, 1989-1999

Post-1988 Agricultural Land Classification survey data for the Bicester, Gowell Farm site, including scanned original maps and reports. The data was collected between 1989 and 1999 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, using the grading methodology from the official 'Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales' guidelines. Some surveys also include unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions.

Use Cases

• Classify agricultural land capability based on the detailed grading methodology described in the survey reports.
• Analyze soil characteristics and variability using the unedited sample point soils data mentioned in the description.
• Map land quality at varying scales (from 1:5,000 to 1:50,000) for regional planning and environmental impact assessments.
• Train models to predict land suitability for different crops based on historical soil survey data.

Strengths

• Uses the official 'Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales' grading methodology, providing a standardized framework.
• Includes the subdivision of Grade 3 into subgrades 3a and 3b, offering more granular detail for moderate-quality land.
• Contains original scanned maps and reports, preserving the primary survey data.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale ML projects.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to a single site surveyed between 1989 and 1999.

Provenance

Source

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (UK), via Natural England and the Government Digital Service.

Collection Method

Detailed site surveys conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, with results compiled into paper maps and reports.

Time Range

1989 to 1999

Freshness

Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Geography

Bicester, Gowell Farm (Cherwell District, England)