Small Land Plots Guide

This guide explains how to handle land plots that are smaller than 0.01 ha (100 m²), which cannot be uploaded as polygon geometries to the osapiens Supplier Portal. Three approaches are available – choose the one that best fits your situation.

Approach A – Convert to Point Geometry

Replace the polygon with a single GPS coordinate point.

Under the EUDR regulation, plots smaller than 4 ha may be represented by a single GPS coordinate (latitude/longitude) instead of a full polygon.

Step 1 – Identify the plot center coordinates

You need the latitude and longitude of the plot center. How you obtain these depends on what data you already have:

Option 1: Use geojson.io to extract the centroid from GeoJSON:

• Open https://geojson.io in your browser.

• Upload your GeoJSON file: use Open → File from the top menu, or drag and drop your .geojson file directly onto the map.

• Your plot polygon appears on the map. Click on the polygon to select it.

• A toolbar appears at the top of the page – click on the Create Centroid button. A new point feature is automatically placed at the polygon's centroid.

• Click on the newly created centroid point. In the Feature Editor at the bottom of the page, click on GeoJSON to display the coordinates of the point.

• Use the Copy button to copy the coordinates. You can now use the copied coordinates or the full GeoJSON file for Step 2.

Option 2 – Use an AI tool to extract the centroid from your GeoJSON:

• Upload your GeoJSON file to an AI tool (e.g., claude.ai) and send the following request:

I have a GeoJSON file containing a land plot polygon. Please calculate the centroid (geographic center point) of this polygon and return the result as latitude and longitude in decimal degrees (WGS 84).

• The AI tool will return a single coordinate pair that you can use in Step 2.

Step 2 – Create a point GeoJSON file

• Create a new .geojson file using the following template. Replace the coordinate values with your actual plot center coordinates from Step 1:

{
  "type": "FeatureCollection",
  "features": [
    {
      "type": "Feature",
      "geometry": {
        "type": "Point",
        "coordinates": [<longitude>, <latitude>]
      },
      "properties": {
        "name": "Plot identifier"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Note: GeoJSON uses [longitude, latitude] order – not [latitude, longitude].

Step 3 – Verify the point location

• Open geojson.io in your browser and paste or upload your new file to visually confirm the point falls within the correct plot area:

  • https://geojson.io

Step 4 – Upload to the osapiens Supplier Portal

• Upload the new point GeoJSON file via the standard upload process in the osapiens Supplier Portal.

Approach B – Buffer / Expand Polygon to Minimum Size

Enlarge the polygon to meet the 0.01 ha minimum threshold.

If you need to retain a polygon representation, the plot can be slightly enlarged (buffered) so that it meets the 0.01 ha minimum. The geographic centre remains unchanged. The following options are available:

1. Option 1 – Buffer in QGIS

2. Option 2 – Buffer via AI Tool

Option 1 – Buffer in QGIS

Step 1 – Install QGIS (if not already installed)

• Download the Long Term Release (LTR) version from:

  • https://qgis.org/download/

• Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. No license required.

Step 2 – Load your GeoJSON file

• Open QGIS and go to Layer → Add Layer → Add Vector Layer. Select your .geojson file and click on Add.

  • Tip: Drag and drop the GeoJSON file directly onto the QGIS window.

Step 3 – Reproject to a metric CRS

• The buffer must be applied in meters, not degrees. Right-click on the layer → Export → Save Features As. Set the CRS to a local metric projection (e.g. EPSG:32632 for Central Europe / UTM Zone 32N). Click on the Select CRS button to browse all available coordinate systems. Save as a temporary file.

Step 4 – Apply buffer

• Go to Vector → Geoprocessing Tools → Buffer. Set the Distance to a value that will bring the area above 0.01 ha. As a guideline, a circular buffer of 6 meters around a point yields approx. 0.011 ha.

• Run the tool. The result is a new buffered polygon layer.

Step 5 – Verify area

• Open the Attribute Table of the buffered layer. Use the Field Calculator to confirm the area: Expression: $area / 10000. Confirm that the value is ≥ 0.01 ha.

• Choose an output field name to be able to click on OK.

Step 6 – Export as GeoJSON (WGS 84)

• Right-click the buffered layer → Export → Save Features As. Choose Format: GeoJSON and set the CRS to EPSG:4326 (WGS 84). Save the file.

Step 7 – Upload to the osapiens Supplier Portal

• Upload the exported GeoJSON file via the standard upload process in the osapiens Supplier Portal.

Option 2 — Buffer via AI Tool

Step 1 – Open an AI tool in your browser

• Go to the AI tool and sign in. (E.g., use the standard Claude chat interface at claude.ai – no special setup required.)

Step 2 – Upload your GeoJSON file

• Click on the plus button and then on the paperclip/attachment icon in the chat input and attach your .geojson file.

Step 3 – Send your request

• Use a prompt like the following:

I have a GeoJSON file containing a land plot polygon that is smaller than 0.01 ha (100 m²). The osapiens Supplier Portal requires a minimum plot size of 0.01 ha to upload.
Please do the following:
1. Calculate the centroid of the polygon.
2. Compute the radius required for a circle with an area of exactly 0.01 ha (100 m²), converting meters to decimal degrees at the correct latitude.
3. Generate a circular polygon (36 vertices) centered on the centroid with that radius.
4. Return the result as a valid GeoJSON FeatureCollection with CRS EPSG:4326.

• The AI tool can perform these calculations directly and will return a ready-to-upload GeoJSON polygon.

Step 4 – Verify the output

• Open https://geojson.io and upload the returned file. Confirm that:

  • The polygon is centered on the original plot location.

  • The shape appears as a small circle (this is expected – the polygon is a circular approximation).

  • No obvious errors or misplaced coordinates are visible.

Step 5 – Upload to the osapiens Supplier Portal

• Upload the verified GeoJSON file via the standard upload process in the osapiens Supplier Portal.

Approach C – Contact the osapiens Support Team

Step 1 – Open the osapiens Support portal

• Access the osapiens support portal via the link available in the Supplier Portal:

  https://supplier-support.osapiens.com/support/home

Step 2 – Create a new support ticket

• Click on Submit a new ticket and fill out the relevant fields:

  • E-mail address

  • Subject: "Request to buffer plot smaller than 0.01 hectare"

  • Application: "EUDR"

  • Company name

  • Corresponding osapiens customer for suppliers (optional)

  • Environment: Demo vs. Production

Step 3 – Describe your request

• In the ticket description, include:

  • The number of plots affected

  • Whether you prefer a buffer (polygon) or point geometry as the output

  • Any additional context relevant to the plots

Step 4 – Attach the GeoJSON file

• Use the file attachment option in the ticket form to upload your .geojson file.

Step 5 – Receive and upload the processed file

• The support team will process your request and return the updated GeoJSON file via the ticket.

• Once received, upload it via the standard upload process in the osapiens Supplier Portal.