Land capability for agriculture (partial cover)

The Land capability for agriculture (partial cover) spatial dataset provides information on the types of crops that may be grown in different areas dependent on environmental and soil characteristics. This map covers much of the productive agricultural land in Scotland and it can be used to determine the areas most suited to growing crops or grazing livestock. 

The Land capability for agriculture map (partial cover) was originally mapped at 1:50 000 scale by field survey and was subsequently digitised.  It shows the distribution of the different land classes across virtually all of Scotland’s cultivated agricultural land and adjacent uplands. The map should be cited as: 'Soil Survey of Scotland Staff (1984-87). Land Capability for Agriculture maps of Scotland at a scale of 1:50 000. Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen. 10.5281/zenodo.6322760'.

The digital dataset contains information on the 'class' of soil. Soil classes range from Class 1 (land capable of producing a wide range of crops) to Class 7 (land of very little agricultural value). Land within Class 3 is subdivided to provide further information on potential yields; Classes 4 and 5 are further divided to provide information on grasslands; Class 6 is divided on the quality of the natural vegetation for grazing.  Classes 1 to 3.1 are known as prime agricultural land.

There is an accompanying booklet that describes the classification in more detail and set out the rules and guidelines to be used. This booklet should be referenced as:  Bibby, J.S., Douglas, H.A., Thomasson, A.J. and Robertson, J.S. (1991) Land capability classification for agriculture. Soil Survey of Scotland Monograph. The Macaulay Institute for Soil Research. Aberdeen. ISBN -0-7084-0508-8.

The spatial dataset is provided under the James Hutton Institute open data licence included within the zipped dataset.

The maintenance of this dataset is funded by the Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government. The data can also be downloaded from or viewed at https://www.hutton.ac.uk/learning/natural-resource-datasets/soilshutton/soils-maps-scotland/download or viewed at  https://soils.environment.gov.scot.

THE CLASSES
Class 1. Land capable of producing a very wide range of crops with high yields
Class 2. Land capable of producing a wide range of crops with yields less high than Class 1.
Class 3. Land capable of producing good yields from a moderate range of crops.
Class 4. Land capable of producing a narrow range of crops.
Class 5. Land suited only to improved grassland and rough grazing.
Class 6. Land capable only of use as rough grazing.
Class 7. Land of very limited agricultural value.

农业土地潜力（覆盖范围不全）空间数据集提供基于环境与土壤特征的不同区域可种植作物类型相关信息。该地图覆盖苏格兰大部分高产农田，可用于确定最适宜作物种植或畜牧放牧的区域。

本农业土地潜力地图（覆盖范围不全）最初通过野外调查以1:50000比例尺绘制，后经数字化处理，展示了苏格兰几乎所有耕作农田及邻近高地的各类土地等级分布情况。该地图的引用格式为："Soil Survey of Scotland Staff (1984-87). Land Capability for Agriculture maps of Scotland at a scale of 1:50 000. Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen. 10.5281/zenodo.6322760"

本数字化数据集包含土壤“等级”相关信息。土壤等级从1级（可种植多种作物的土地）至7级（农业利用价值极低的土地）。其中3级土地进一步细分以提供潜在产量相关的详细信息；4级与5级土地按草地类型细分；6级土地依据放牧用自然植被质量进行划分；1级至3.1级土地被视为优质农田。

配套手册对该分类体系进行了详细阐释，并列明了应用规则与指南。该手册的引用格式为：Bibby, J.S., Douglas, H.A., Thomasson, A.J. and Robertson, J.S. (1991) Land capability classification for agriculture. Soil Survey of Scotland Monograph. The Macaulay Institute for Soil Research. Aberdeen. ISBN 0-7084-0508-8。

本空间数据集遵循詹姆斯·赫顿研究所（James Hutton Institute）开放数据许可协议发布，许可文件包含于压缩数据集内。

本数据集的维护工作由苏格兰政府农村与环境科学及分析服务部门资助。用户可通过以下链接下载或查看该数据集：https://www.hutton.ac.uk/learning/natural-resource-datasets/soilshutton/soils-maps-scotland/download ，或访问 https://soils.environment.gov.scot 进行查看。

土地等级
1级：可种植多种作物且产量较高的土地
2级：可种植多种作物，但产量低于1级土地的土地
3级：可种植中等范围的作物且产量良好的土地
4级：仅可种植少量种类作物的土地
5级：仅适用于改良草地与粗放放牧的土地
6级：仅可用于粗放放牧的土地
7级：农业利用价值极为有限的土地