Variables API

Metadata and statistics for the data variables (indicators) available in the block-level shapefile. Variables represent measurable characteristics of each block - agriculture percentages, water indices, infrastructure counts, livestock densities, and more.

Each variable has a short code (e.g., AD, WA, CF) used as column names in the shapefile and GeoJSON properties. These endpoints provide human-readable labels, descriptions, group categories, and statistical ranges.

The label, description, and group metadata are sourced from the intervention/variable configuration (the dss_input Google Sheet, with a local DSS_input2.csv fallback). The numeric min/max/mean statistics are computed live from the block-level shapefile.

---

Get All Block-Level Variables

Returns metadata for every numeric variable in the block-level shapefile, including min/max/mean statistics computed across all blocks in the shapefile.

GET /api/variables

The handler iterates the columns of the block shapefile, skips the identifier/geometry columns (geometry, BLOCK_ID, STATE_ID, DISTRICT_I, Block_name, id), and emits one entry per column that contains numeric data. Labels, descriptions, and groups are looked up from the variable metadata; a column with no metadata group falls back to group "Other".

Response

200 OK - a JSON array of variable objects:

[
  {
    "field": "AD",
    "label": "Agricultural Diversity",
    "description": "Percentage of agricultural land diversity",
    "group": "Land & Agriculture",
    "data_min": 0.0,
    "data_max": 95.5,
    "data_mean": 42.3
  },
  {
    "field": "WA",
    "label": "Water Availability",
    "description": "Water availability index",
    "group": "Water",
    "data_min": 5.0,
    "data_max": 88.0,
    "data_mean": 35.7
  }
]

Field	Type	Description
field	string	Column code in the shapefile (used in filter criteria)
label	string	Human-readable name (falls back to the field code if no metadata)
description	string	What this variable measures (empty string if no metadata)
group	string	Category group for UI organization (falls back to "Other")
data_min	number	Minimum value across all blocks (0 if no numeric data)
data_max	number	Maximum value across all blocks (100 if no numeric data)
data_mean	number	Mean value across all blocks (50 if no numeric data)

Variable Groups

Variables are organized into thematic groups. The group names come from the group column of the variable configuration; the configured group set is:

Group	Description	Example Variables
Land & Agriculture	Crop patterns, land use, agricultural diversity	AD, CF, CI
Water	Water availability, irrigation, groundwater	WA, GW
Soil	Soil quality and characteristics	-
Climate	Rainfall and climate indicators	-
Infrastructure	Roads, markets, connectivity, facilities	IN, RD
Livestock	Animal populations, livestock density	LV, CT
People & Collectives	Demographics, SHGs, cooperatives	PO, SH

Group fallback

Any numeric shapefile column that has no matching group in the configuration is reported with group: "Other". The exact set of group strings returned depends on the current configuration sheet.

Errors

Status	Body	Cause
500	{"error": "<message>"}	Failure loading the shapefile or metadata

Example

cURLPythonJavaScript

curl https://leaf-asrlm.in/api/variables

import requests
import pandas as pd

r = requests.get("https://leaf-asrlm.in/api/variables")
variables = r.json()

# Create a summary DataFrame
df = pd.DataFrame(variables)
print(f"Total variables: {len(df)}")
print(f"\nBy group:")
print(df.groupby('group').size().sort_values(ascending=False))
print(f"\nSample:")
print(df[['field', 'label', 'group', 'data_min', 'data_max']].head(10).to_string(index=False))

const r = await fetch('/api/variables');
const variables = await r.json();

// Group by category
const byGroup = {};
variables.forEach(v => {
  (byGroup[v.group] = byGroup[v.group] || []).push(v);
});

Object.entries(byGroup).forEach(([group, vars]) => {
  console.log(`${group}: ${vars.length} variables`);
});

---

Get Variable Groups

Returns the list of variable group categories used to organize variables in the UI. Groups are the unique, non-empty values of the group column in the variable configuration.

GET /api/variable-groups

Response

200 OK - a JSON object with a groups array of group-name strings:

{
  "groups": [
    "Land & Agriculture",
    "Water",
    "Infrastructure",
    "Livestock",
    "People & Collectives",
    "Soil",
    "Climate"
  ]
}

Field	Type	Description
groups	array of string	Distinct group names from the variable configuration (order and exact set depend on the config sheet)

Errors

Status	Body	Cause
500	{"error": "<message>"}	Failure loading the variable metadata

Example

cURLPython

curl https://leaf-asrlm.in/api/variable-groups

import requests

r = requests.get("https://leaf-asrlm.in/api/variable-groups")
groups = r.json()['groups']
print(f"Available groups: {', '.join(groups)}")

---

Get Variable Statistics

Returns min, max, and mean values for a specific variable column, computed from the block-level shapefile.

GET /api/variable-stats/{variable}

Parameters

Parameter	In	Type	Required	Description
variable	path	string	Yes	Variable column code (e.g. AD, WA, CF)

Block-level only

This route computes statistics from the block-level shapefile.

Response

200 OK:

{
  "min": 0.0,
  "max": 95.5,
  "mean": 42.3
}

Field	Type	Description
min	number	Minimum value across all blocks
max	number	Maximum value across all blocks
mean	number	Mean value across all blocks

Unknown or empty variables

If the variable name doesn't exist as a column in the shapefile, the endpoint returns the default values {"min": 0, "max": 100, "mean": 50} instead of an error. The same defaults are used for any of the three values that cannot be computed (e.g. an all-empty column).

Errors

Status	Body	Cause
500	{"error": "<message>"}	Failure loading the shapefile

A non-existent variable code does not produce an error - it returns the default range above.

Example

cURLPythonJavaScript

curl https://leaf-asrlm.in/api/variable-stats/AD

import requests

# Check stats for multiple variables
variables = ['AD', 'WA', 'CF', 'CI']
for var in variables:
    r = requests.get(f"https://leaf-asrlm.in/api/variable-stats/{var}")
    stats = r.json()
    print(f"{var}: {stats['min']:.1f} - {stats['max']:.1f} (mean {stats['mean']:.1f})")

const variable = 'AD';
const r = await fetch(`/api/variable-stats/${variable}`);
const stats = await r.json();
console.log(`${variable}: ${stats.min} - ${stats.max} (avg ${stats.mean.toFixed(1)})`);