Naturalengland Defra Opendata Arcgis Com

Natural England Defra ArcGIS Open Data Access Skill

Access geospatial datasets from Natural England and Defra's ArcGIS Open Data portal.

Overview

This skill provides direct API access to the ArcGIS REST Service hosting Natural England's geospatial datasets. Currently implemented for the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) England dataset.

Dataset: Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (England)

• Source: Natural England / Defra
• Total Features: 34 AONBs
• Geometry Type: Polygon
• Coordinate System: British National Grid (EPSG:27700)
• Update Frequency: Periodic (last edit tracked in metadata)

Available Attributes

Functions

list_aonbs

List all AONBs in England with optional pagination.

Parameters:

• include_geometry (boolean, optional): Include polygon geometries. Default: false
• limit (integer, optional): Maximum records to return
• offset (integer, optional): Pagination offset. Default: 0

Example:

result = await execute({
    "function": "list_aonbs",
    "include_geometry": false,
    "limit": 10
})

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "total_count": 34,
    "returned_count": 10,
    "offset": 0,
    "limit": 10,
    "aonbs": [
      {
        "object_id": 1,
        "code": "11",
        "name": "East Devon",
        "designation_date": "Sep-63",
        "website_url": "https://www.eastdevon-nl.org.uk/",
        "area_sqkm": 269.13,
        "global_id": "3d6d2039-f86a-467b-a66a-9e988aea8bf2"
      }
    ]
  }
}

get_aonb

Get a specific AONB by name or code.

Parameters:

• name (string, optional): Name of the AONB (case-insensitive)
• code (string, optional): 2-digit code of the AONB
• include_geometry (boolean, optional): Include polygon geometry. Default: true

Example:

result = await execute({
    "function": "get_aonb",
    "name": "Cotswolds"
})

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "object_id": 4,
    "code": "7",
    "name": "Cotswolds",
    "designation_date": "Sep-66",
    "website_url": "https://www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk/",
    "area_sqkm": 2041.09,
    "shape_area": 2042416258.8575,
    "shape_length": 743388.511757622,
    "global_id": "...",
    "geometry_type": "esriGeometryPolygon",
    "spatial_reference": {"wkid": 27700},
    "geometry": {"rings": [...]}
  }
}

search

Search AONBs by criteria.

Parameters:

• query (string, optional): Name substring search (case-insensitive)
• min_area (float, optional): Minimum area in km²
• max_area (float, optional): Maximum area in km²
• include_geometry (boolean, optional): Include polygons. Default: false

Example - Find large AONBs:

result = await execute({
    "function": "search",
    "min_area": 1000
})

Example - Search by name:

result = await execute({
    "function": "search",
    "query": "Devon"
})

get_metadata

Get comprehensive dataset metadata.

Example:

result = await execute({"function": "get_metadata"})

Response includes:

• Service information
• Layer details
• Field definitions
• Feature count
• Extent and spatial reference
• Capabilities

API Details

ArcGIS REST Endpoint

Base URL: https://services.arcgis.com/JJzESW51TqeY9uat/arcgis/rest/services/Areas_of_Outstanding_Natural_Beauty_England/FeatureServer
Layer: /0 (AONB polygons)

Query Parameters

The skill constructs ArcGIS REST API queries with:

• f=json: JSON response format
• where: SQL where clause for filtering
• outFields: Fields to return (* for all)
• returnGeometry: Include polygon geometries
• orderByFields: Sort results
• resultOffset / resultRecordCount: Pagination

Usage Notes

1. Geometry Size: Polygon geometries can be large. Only request geometry when needed.
2. Case Insensitivity: Name searches are case-insensitive.
3. Area Units: STAT_AREA is in square kilometers; Shape__Area is in map units.
4. Spatial Reference: All geometries are in British National Grid (EPSG:27700).
5. Max Records: Service supports up to 1000 records per request.

Dataset Highlights

• Largest AONB: Cotswolds (2,041 km²)
• Smallest AONB: Cannock Chase (68.65 km²)
• Total AONB Area: ~21,000 km² combined
• All AONBs include official website links

Error Handling

All functions return structured error responses:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Error description"
}

Common errors:

• Missing required parameters
• No matching AONB found
• Network/API errors