Data Access
The CS2007 project partners wish the resulting data to be used as widely as possible. To help achieve this, data will be made available at different levels to suit a range of user needs and through different channels.
Summary data from CS2007 will be made accessible to all in a series of reports and via the Countryside Survey website. The reporting schedule is as follows:
- Main Countryside Survey report for the UK – proposed launch 18th November 2008
- Web access to summary data – from date of UK report launch
- Country reports for England, Scotland and Wales – March/April 2009
- Licensed access to data underpinning the GB and country reports – March/April 2009 onwards
- Northern Ireland Countryside Survey report – publication anticipated in 2010
- Freshwater Topic Report – October 2009
- Soils Topic Report – December 2009
- Integrated Assessment Topic Report – March 2010
CS2007 data which underpins the results presented in these reports will become available, under licence, once the corresponding summary results have been published. This means that data on habitats, linear and point features, vegetation plots and some freshwater (vegetation and River Habitat Survey) and soil (carbon and pH) data from each of the 1 km squares surveyed (591 squares in 2007) will become available after the launch of the three country reports for England, Scotland and Wales (March/April 2009). Remaining freshwater and soils data will become available after the respective reports are published in October and December 2009.
Release of data containing the exact location of the 1
km squares surveyed could prejudice future surveys by affecting the way
in which land is managed and/or influencing future permissions to visit
by landowners. The project partners therefore take the view it would
not be in the national interest to release the locations of the survey
squares and would therefore intend to claim exception from public release
under the Environmental Information Regulations; specifically Exception
12.5.(g), “the protection of the environment to which the
information relates”.
However, when requesting information, users will be able to identify
which survey squares occur within the boundaries of selected designated
areas. For example, it will be possible to identify which squares are
in a particular county or National Park but not where they occur within
that area.
Data from previous Countryside Surveys in 1978, 1984, 1990 and 1998 are already available under licence. Please note that not all data types were collected in all surveys. Requests for access should be submitted to the CEH data licensing team at enquiries@ceh.ac.uk.
Land Cover Map 2007 will be available under licence from September 2009.