ALCR10095: Post-1988 Agricultural Land Classification Survey Maps and Reports

Between 1989 and 1999, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food conducted detailed site surveys for agricultural land classification in England and Wales. The dataset includes scanned original paper maps and survey reports for individual sites, with mapping scales ranging from 1:5,000 to 1:50,000. It is provided by Natural England and contains Ordnance Survey data.

Use Cases

• Analyze historical land quality trends based on the detailed agricultural land grades and subgrades.
• Train models for land classification using the scanned map imagery and associated survey reports.
• Assess soil characteristics for specific sites based on the available unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions.

Strengths

• Surveys use a defined and referenced grading methodology ('Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales').
• Includes subdivision of Grade 3 into subgrades 3a and 3b for finer detail.
• Contains both geospatial map data and textual survey reports for context.

Limitations

• Row count, column definitions, and file formats are unknown, limiting suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; data freshness is unverified.
• Data is from a specific time period (1989-1999) and may not reflect current conditions.

Provenance

Source

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Natural England; Ordnance Survey.

Collection Method

Detailed site surveys with soil analysis, resulting in scanned paper maps and reports.

Time Range

1989 to 1999

Freshness

Last updated date is unknown.

Geography

England and Wales (survey name 'Palestine' refers to a specific site location within this region).