AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Boundaries of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) of Great Britain (excludes offshore areas)

This resource contains the spatial dataset of Special Areas of Conservation in Great Britain (excluding offshore areas), **last updated in March 2026**. The date of the latest update to the data is shown in the file name.  

The spatial dataset for Northern Ireland is available as a separate [resource](https://hub.jncc.gov.uk/assets/e301ec47-a4e2-402f-8ffd-66a66558ba3e).

Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) form the UK’s National Site Network. JNCC maintains UK National Site Network datasets (formerly UK Natura 2000 datasets) and periodically publishes updates of the datasets following changes to the site network, which include:

* designation/classification of new sites;
* amendments to existing site boundaries;
* corrections to the datasets or amendments due to updates to the underlying base maps.

This dataset was last updated in March 2026. More recent changes to the UK National Site Network (last updated in March 2026) has resulted in a update to the dataset. Further information on updates to the SAC network, including details of previous updates, can be found on the [SACs webpage](https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/special-areas-of-conservation/#latest-changes-to-the-spa-network).

Please note that the statutory nature conservation body responsible for the sites may update site boundary data in between JNCC's periodic updates. To access the latest national site network boundary data, please visit the relevant [CNCB website](https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/uk-protected-area-datasets-for-download/#further-information-on-national-designations).

Tags: Freshwater, Marine, Protected Areas, Terrestrial
Organization: Joint Nature Conservation Committee
MOD-Organogram of Staff Roles & Salaries-Dstl

Organogram (organisation chart) showing all staff roles. Names and salaries are also listed for the Senior Civil Servants 2* and above.

Organogram data has been released by all central government departments and their agencies since 2010. Snapshots are published quarterly for datasets from 31st March; 30th June; 30th September and 31st December each year. The published data is validated and released in CSV format and OGL-licensed for reuse. 
For more information about this series, see: http://guidance.data.gov.uk/organogram-data.html


Organization: Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
Boundaries of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) of Great Britain (including offshore areas)

This resource contains the spatial dataset of Special Protection Area boundaries in Great Britain (including offshore areas), **last updated on March 2026**. The date of the latest update to the data is provided in the file name.

The SPA spatial dataset for Northern Ireland is available as a separate [resource](https://hub.jncc.gov.uk/assets/8b81cb32-c654-4cf0-b334-571bf523bbe3).

Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) form the UK's National Site Network. JNCC maintains the UK National Site Network datasets (formerly UK Natura 2000 datasets) and periodically publishes updates of the datasets following changes to the site network, which might include:

* designation/classification of new sites;
* amendments to existing site boundaries;
* corrections to the datasets or amendments due to updates to the underlying base maps.   


Please note that the statutory nature conservation bodies responsible for the sites may update site boundary data in between JNCC's periodic updates. To access the latest national site network boundary data, please visit the relevant [CNCB website](https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/uk-protected-area-datasets-for-download/#further-information-on-national-designations).

More information on the UK's network of Special Protection Areas (SPAs), including information on the most recent updates to the network and details of previous updates (tranches), is available on the [SPAs webpage](https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/special-protection-areas).

Tags: Freshwater, Marine, Natura 2000, Protected Areas, Terrestrial
Organization: Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) shellfish water protected areas in England

This dataset contains the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017 shellfish water protected area designations in England. These are waters designated by the Secretary of State as protected areas under the Water Framework Regulations in order to protect or develop economically significant shellfish production.
The polygons are based on Ordnance Survey tidal water open data as source base data with boundary extents as originally described in the schedule to the Shellfish Waters (England) Notice 2011 (from the (now repealed) Surface Waters (Shellfish) (Classifications) Regulations 1997).  Agreed changes to shellfish water protected area designations made subsequently, including the most recent review which was undertaken arising from the 2015 Designation Review for the updated River Basin Management Plans, have also been incorporated. Attribution statement: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2017. All rights reserved.

Tags: Protected Areas, Shellfish Waters, WFD, environment
Organization: Environment Agency
WFD Cycle 2 Lake total phosphorous classification

This dataset is a subset of "WFD Classification Status Cycle 2" and contains classification data for Total Phosphorus in lakes. Total Phosphorus is one of the physicochemical elements used, along with other physicochemical and biological quality elements, to determine the ecological status of a lake.  The concentration and bioavailability of phosphorus influences freshwater ecology by driving the plant composition and biomass.  Total phosphorus results are run through the calculator classification tool. The actual (observed) total phosphorus concentrations are compared with reference boundary phosphorus concentrations to derive a total phosphorus classification (High, Good, Moderate, Poor, Bad) for the water body for Water Framework Directive (WFD) purposes. Attribution statement: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2015. All rights reserved.

Tags: EC directive, INSPIRE, environment, water quality
Organization: Environment Agency
Vegetated Shingle Habitat Map

A vegetated shingle habitat map derived from airborne data. The habitat map is a polygon shapefile showing site relevant habitat classes – this is a merged product of multiple sites across multiple years.

The habitat map is derived from CASI (Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager) multispectral data, LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) elevation data, and other GIS products. The classification also uses ground data collected after the CASI capture.

The ground data is used to identify the characteristics of the different habitats in the CASI and LIDAR data. These characteristics are then used to classify the different habitats and fit them into one of the predefined classes.

The collection of ground data used in the classification has some limitations. It is not collected at the same time as the CASI or LIDAR; it is normally within a couple of months of CASI capture, therefore some variations between the CASI data and situation on site at the time of ground data collection are possible. A good spatial coverage of ground data around the site is recommended, although not always practically achievable. For a class to be mapped, there must have been samples collected for it on site. If the class is not seen on site or samples are not collected for a class, it cannot be mapped.

The habitat map was created using a supervised classification, which means ground data were used to train the model. The classifications had a quantitative accuracy assessment carried out on them in the form of a confusion matrix using ground data set aside and not used in training the classifier. Alongside this aerial photography captured simultaneously with the CASI data was used to check and make final improvements to the habitat map. Attribution statement: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2015. All rights reserved.

Tags: environment, environmental monitoring, habitats, remote sensing, vegetation, vegetation map
Organization: Environment Agency
Seagrass Analysis Ready data (NCEA)

The Natural Capital Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) Seagrass Network contributes to a clearer picture of estuarine and coastal health across England by monitoring a wide range of parameters, supporting long-term measurement and establishment of a more complete national asset inventory of seagrass. The NCEA Seagrass Network Analysis Ready dataset consists of the Seagrass Bed Location Layer (points) and Seagrass Bed Extent Layer (polygon) data to show the location of seagrass bed presence detected from Environment Agency surveys undertaken between 2007 and 2024.  It includes intertidal beds surveyed since 2007 and subtidal beds surveyed since 2016. The point locations were calculated by using the centre point of each bed from the most recent survey at each of those beds. Seagrass presence and locations were identified using multiple survey methods. Intertidal beds were surveyed using a mix of walkover surveys and aerial mapping, with drone and airplane imagery. Subtidal beds were surveyed using a mix of drop-down camera and echosounder methods, with new NCEA data collected from 2023 onwards.  

The NCEA Seagrass Network is a project supported by the UK Government through Defra's NCEA programme. The NCEA is Defra's largest research and development (R&D) programme. It will produce a baseline of our natural assets by 2029; enabling a natural capital approach to policy and decision-making.  

 

Users should ensure they have read the NCEA Analysis Ready Data Limitations Statement and dataset specific limitations/ caveats outlined in the Data Dictionary.  Attribution statement: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2025. All rights reserved. 

Tags: Analysis Ready Data, Habitat Map, Habitat change, Habitats and biotopes, NCEA, Oceans, Seagrass, aquatic environment, coast, coast protection, coastal area, coastal ecosystem, coastal environment, coastal management, coastal water, data on the state of the environment, environment, environmental assessment, habitat, living marine resource, mapping, marine biology, marine ecology, marine ecosystem, marine environment, marine fauna, marine monitoring, marine organism, marine resources conservation, monitoring, ocean, oceanography, spatial, spatial distribution, species
Organization: Environment Agency
Saltmarsh Habitat Map

A saltmarsh habitat map derived from airborne data. The habitat map is a polygon shapefile showing site relevant habitat classes – this is a merged product of multiple sites across multiple years.

The habitat map is derived from CASI (Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager) multispectral data, LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) elevation data, and other GIS products. The classification also uses ground data collected after the CASI capture.

The ground data is used to identify the characteristics of the different habitats in the CASI and LIDAR data. These characteristics are then used to classify the different habitats and fit them into one of the predefined classes.

The collection of ground data used in the classification has some limitations. It is not collected at the same time as the CASI or LIDAR; it is normally within a couple of months of CASI capture, therefore some variations between the CASI data and situation on site at the time of ground data collection are possible. A good spatial coverage of ground data around the site is recommended, although not always practically achievable. For a class to be mapped, there must have been samples collected for it on site. If the class is not seen on site or samples are not collected for a class, it cannot be mapped.

The habitat map was created using a supervised classification, which means ground data were used to train the model. The classifications had a quantitative accuracy assessment carried out on them in the form of a confusion matrix using ground data set aside and not used in training the classifier. Alongside this aerial photography captured simultaneously with the CASI data was used to check and make final improvements to the habitat map. Attribution statement: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2020. All rights reserved.

Tags: environment, environmental monitoring, habitats , remote sensing, saltmarsh, vegetation
Organization: Environment Agency
Flood Risk Areas

This metadata record is for Approval for Access product AfA256.

Flood Risk Areas identify locations where there is believed to be significant flood risk. The EU Floods Directive refers to Flood Risk Areas as 'Areas of Potentially Significant Flood Risk' (APSFR).

Flood Risk Areas have been defined by the Environment Agency (main rivers and the sea) and Lead Local Flood Authorities (surface water). Other sources of flooding are not covered.   This dataset includes Flood Risk Areas defined for both Cycle 1 (December 2011) and Cycle 2 (December 2018).

The criteria used to determine significance are explained in supporting guidance document supplied with this data.

Flood Risk Areas determine where Flood Hazard and Risk Maps and Flood Risk Management Plans must subsequently be produced to meet obligations under the EU Floods Directive.

INFORMATION WARNING 

Flood Risk Areas are designed to meet the needs of the European Floods Directive. They are designed for broad planning purposes only and are not appropriate for any other type of flood mapping. Other flood mapping is available which is more appropriate to showing localised flood risk. Attribution statement: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2019. All rights reserved.

Tags: Flood Risk Management Planning, Natural risk zones, environment, inlandWaters, oceans, risk
Organization: Environment Agency
Fleet Utilisation

The dataset is an Excel spreadsheet of returns provided by Responsible Officers to indicate how many times each month a fleet asset is used. The period covered is April 2015 (period 1) to March 2016 (period 12). Registration numbers have been removed. Attribution statement: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2016. All rights reserved.

Tags: agricultural equipment, commercial vehicle, construction equipment, environment, mechanical equipment, plant equipment, resource utilisation
Organization: Environment Agency
Commercial Fleet Holding

The dataset is an Excel spreadsheet of assets on the commercial fleet as at 08 March 2016. The fleet consists of vans, 4x4s, HGVs, tractors, excavators, boats, towable equipment and other fleet equipment . The list shows basic information such as make and model, fuel type, when it is due to be replaced and if it is owned or leased. The Operational Area in which it operates is shown. Registration numbers and base locations have been removed for security purposes. Attribution statement: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2016. All rights reserved.

Tags: agricultural equipment, commercial vehicle, construction equipment, environment, mechanical equipment, plant equipment
Organization: Environment Agency
Contaminated Land (Confirmed) - Scotland

Land is legally defined as 'contaminated' where substances are causing or could cause significant harm to people, property or protected species as well as causing significant pollution to surface waters (for example lakes and rivers) or groundwater.

Land can become contaminated by a variety of substances, from heavy metals to agricultural waste. The environmental, financial and legal implications of this can be substantial.

The management and remediation of contaminated land that, in its current state, is causing or has the potential to cause significant harm or significant pollution of the water environment, is regulated by legislation and underpinned by the core principles of the 'polluter pays' and a 'suitable for use approach'.

Local authorities are the primary regulator for the contaminated land regime (SEPA also has certain responsibilities within the scope of the legislation) to regulate activities and assist in the management and remediation of contaminated land.

Contaminated Land can go through remediation work and this dataset attempts to collect that detail. However, when a site has been remediated, it becomes suitable for the current use (at the time of remediation), and that this doesn't mean the site is 'clean' or has no contamination.  Further assessment/remediation may be required should there be any change of use or new planning application etc.

The current regulation regarding Contaminated Land is contained within the  Environmental Protection Act (1990) known as Part IIA. Part IIA is further established in Scotland by the Contaminated Land (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (SSI 2000/178), as amended and the Scottish Government’s Statutory Guidance: Edition 2 provides the detailed framework for the definition, identification and remediation of contaminated land.

THIS SPATIAL DATASET IS ONLY CONFIRMED (AND REMEDIATED) CONTAMINATED LAND AND DOES NOT INCLUDE 'POTENTIALLY' CONTAMINATED LAND.

Tags: Area management/restriction/regulation zones and r, Human health and safety
Organization: Scottish Government SpatialData.gov.scot
Smoke Control Areas - Scotland

Under Section 18 of the Clean Air Act 1993, many parts of Scotland are declared Smoke Control Areas by the relevant local authority. If you live in a smoke control area it is an offence to produce smoke from a chimney of a building, or a chimney of any fixed boiler or industrial plant, unless you're burning an authorised fuel or using exempt appliances (e.g. burners or stoves). In practice this means that in a smoke control area it is illegal to burn house coal or wood in an open fire, although it is legal to burn these in a stove or other appliance that has been approved to burn that fuel. It is also illegal to deliver any unauthorised solid fuels, e.g. wood and normal house coal, to any premises in a smoke control area unless the seller can demonstrate that they were aware that the unauthorised solid fuel is to be burnt in an exempt appliance.

Tags: Area management/restriction/regulation zones and r, Atmospheric conditions, Environmental monitoring facilities, Human health and safety
Organization: Scottish Government SpatialData.gov.scot
Air Quality Management Areas - Scotland

Local Authorities have a duty to designate any relevant areas where the air quality objectives are not (or are unlikely to be) being met as Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs).  AQMAs must be designated officially by means of an 'order'.  The extent of the AQMA may be limited to the area of exceedance or encompass a larger area.  Following the declaration of an AQMA, the local authority is required to develop and implement a plan (Air Quality Action Plan) to improve air quality in that area. AQMAs can be for a combination of NO2, SO2, PM10.

Most data provided by local authorities is in polygon format. However, some is provided in point and line form so we are currently buffering such data by the width of a road or so in order to merge them in to the national polygon dataset. Some smaller local authorities e.g. Dundee, use the entire extent of their local authority, as digitised in Ordnance Survey's BoundaryLine dataset, for the AQMA.

We have included date of AQMA declaration in our national schema, though many LAs do not currently provide this.
Revoked AQMAs are now held in this dataset with a 'Date revoked' attribute.

Tags: Area management/restriction/regulation zones and r
Organization: Scottish Government SpatialData.gov.scot
Employment Land Supply - Scotland

Scottish Planning Policy sets out the Scottish Government's policies in relation to economic development in Scotland. An Employment Land Audit is produced to monitor the supply, take up and status of employment land in line with National Guidance. The audit assesses the range and choice of marketable sites and locations for businesses with a variety of size and quality requirements. The audit identifies the availability and constraints of employment land sites within the local authority.

Tags: Area management/restriction/regulation zones and r, Land use, Production and industrial facilities
Organization: Scottish Government SpatialData.gov.scot
National Street Gazetteer

The NSG is the authoritative reference dataset of streets within England and Wales used for street works, highways maintenance and traffic management.  In line with British Standard 7666(2006) the NSG is regularly updated by all 175 highway authorities with Additional Street Data (ASD) such as road centre lines, ownership details, level of reinstatement required,  height weight and width restrictions and direction of travel.

Organization: Geoplace
WATCH forcing data (WFD) - 20th century SWdown (surface incident shortwave radiation) 1901-2001

The WATCH Forcing data is a twentieth century meteorological forcing dataset for land surface and hydrological models. It consists of three/six-hourly states of the weather for global half-degree land grid points. It was generated as part of the EU FP 6 project "WATCH" (WATer and global CHange") which ran from 2007-2011. The data was generated in 2 tranches with slightly different methodology: 1901-1957 and 1958-2001, but generally the dataset can be considered as continuous. More details regarding the generation process can be found in the associated WATCH technical report and paper in J. Hydrometeorology. To understand how the data grid is formed it is necessary to read the attached WFD-land-long-lat-z files either in NetCDF or DAT formats. The data covers land points only and excludes the Antarctica. SWdown or surface incident shortwave radiation is the surface incident shortwave radiation measured in W/m2 at 3 hourly resolution, based on the average over the next 3 hours at the surface and at 0.5 x 0.5 degrees spatial resolution. 

Tags: Atmospheric Conditions, Meteorological geographical features, land surface
Organization: Environmental Information Data Centre
WATCH Forcing Data (WFD) - 20th Century Tair (air temperature) 1901-2001

The WATCH Forcing data is a twentieth century meteorological forcing dataset for land surface and hydrological models. It consists of three/six-hourly states of the weather for global half-degree land grid points. It was generated as part of the EU FP 6 project "WATCH" (WATer and global CHange") which ran from 2007-2011. The data was generated in 2 tranches with slightly different methodology: 1901-1957 and 1958-2001, but generally the dataset can be considered as continuous. More details regarding the generation process can be found in the associated WATCH technical report and paper in J. Hydrometeorology. To understand how the data grid is formed it is necessary to read the attached WFD-land-long-lat-z files either in NetCDF or DAT formats. The data covers land points only and excludes the Antarctica. Tair or air temperature is the 2m air temperature (instantaneous) measured in K at 6 hourly resolution and 0.5 x 0.5 degrees spatial resolution. 

Tags: Atmosphere, Atmospheric Conditions, Land surface modelling, Meteorological geographical features
Organization: Environmental Information Data Centre