Cutting-edge technology will boost real-time monitoring of remote peatlands - Northumbria University

Researchers will develop new ways to monitor carbon emissions from vast swathes of peatland after winning almost half a million pounds to develop new sensors that can be used in remote areas.

Peatlands store around one-third of the world’s soil carbon, playing a vital role in reducing carbon emissions and combatting climate change. They also provide a unique habitat for rare species and help to minimise flood risks, but when they are cultivated or drained they dry out, releasing their stores of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

With more than one-tenth of land area in the UK being covered by peatland – in areas such as the Peak District, the North York Moors National Park and Dartmoor – the government is keen to support projects, such as rewetting, to manage and restore them to help the UK achieve net zero by 2050 and tackle climate change.

However, it is extremely challenging to measure the effectiveness of efforts to recover peatland. Capturing readings on an hourly or daily basis requires sophisticated and expensive infrastructure which limits the size of the area that can be monitored.

That is now set to change after Dr Paul Mann alongside colleagues from the Geography and Environmental Sciences and Computer and Information Sciences departments at Northumbria University, and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, were awarded almost £490,000 funding from the Natural Environment Research Council, Defra and Innovate UK’s Innovation in Environmental Monitoring programme.