Agricultural Land Classification Survey: Detailed Soil Maps and Reports from 1989-1999

Post-1988 Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) site survey data includes scanned original paper maps and reports for individual sites surveyed in detail between 1989 and 1999 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The data uses the grading methodology from the 'Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales' guidelines and includes unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions for some surveys. It is provided by the Government Digital Service and contains Natural England and Ordnance Survey copyright.

Use Cases

• Classify agricultural land capability based on the detailed ALC grading methodology described in the survey reports.
• Analyze historical soil quality trends for specific sites based on the unedited sample point soils data.
• Integrate historical land classification maps with modern GIS layers for longitudinal land-use studies.
• Train models to predict land quality subgrades (e.g., 3a vs. 3b) using soil pit descriptions and survey features.

Strengths

• Data is based on a defined and referenced grading methodology ('Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales').
• Includes subdivision of Grade 3 into subgrades 3a and 3b, providing finer detail.
• Contains ancillary data like unedited sample point soils and soil pit descriptions for some surveys.

Limitations

• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (survey), Government Digital Service (platform).

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1989 to 1999

Freshness

Data covers surveys from 1989 to 1999; last update date is unknown.

Geography

Site-specific surveys within England and Wales, including the 'Morely, Tingley Common' site.