CReScenDo started June 1st 2017. The two-year project included activities performed at three study sites located in different countries, Indonesia, Norway, and Italy, with different ecological conditions: peatlands developing in the Indonesian tropical climate, high-latitude Norwegian bogs in pristine conditions, and a reclaimed peatland that underwent intensive agricultural practices in Italy.
The Norwegian study site is located south of Lillehammer, near the Brottum village. The area is characterized by the presence of forested land on frequent bedrock depressions, bogs and fens, at 300-400 m asl. A field survey was performed at this study site in August 2017. An Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) dataset was already available and kindly made available by the National Norwegian Railroad Authorities. The analyses of the AEM data were performed in collaboration with Aarhus Geofisica (Pisa, IT) during the MSC fellow’s training (i.e. Secondment). The MSC fellow worked also in collaboration with the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, where she performed the lab analyses of the peat samples.
The Indonesian study site is located in Kubu Raya District, West Kalimantan (Borneo). The study site covers an area of about 230 sq km and is characterized by the presence of large oil palms plantations. AEM data were collected in November 2017; 110 parallel flight lines were collected for a total length of 827 km with a system named SkyTEM. The campaign included several ancillary activities for the acquisition of ground-based geophysical data and peat thickness measurements through coring. Peat samples were collected and analyzed in the lab.
The Italian study site is located south of the Venice lagoon, in a basin named Zennare. Also in this case, the field campaigns (performed in fall 2018/spring 2019) included the collection of peat thickness measurements through coring and the acquisition of ground-based geophysical data. At this location also a contact-less frequency domain electro-magnetometer method was also used.
The analyses carried out in CreScenDo showed that the integration of AEM data with remote sensing, field measurements and lab analyses is the most robust and accurate approach for peat volume mapping across large peatland areas, and allows to accurately estimate their carbon stock. The results revealed that there are two main limitations to the applicability of this methodology: the high operational costs and the limited sensitivity of AEM to thin peat layers (order of 1-1.5 m). In order to overcome these issues, an alternative approach based on the use of a portable geophysical instruments (i.e. a contact-less frequency domain electro-magnetometer - FDEM) has been successfully tested at one of the study sites, providing reliable and rapid quantification of peat thickness over very thin peat layers. The methodology developed during the project has been applied to the three selected study sites, but can be applied to other areas around the world, allowing a precise assessment of peat deposits, which is the first essential step needed to implement conservation policies at the national and international level.
CreScenDo results have been presented at 7 scientific conferences. Three press releases were circulated (see for example
https://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2017/171102/pdf/nj7678-129a.pdf?foxtrotcallback=true(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)) and one interview on an on-line radio (
http://www.radiobue.it/tag/sonia-silvestri/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)). Moreover, the researcher organized a public event on climate change and peatlands at the Museum of Natural History in Venice (Italy) (
https://msn.visitmuve.it/it/eventi/archivio-eventi/cambiamenti-climatici/2018/03/19107/come-sara-la-nostra-vita-tra-50-anni/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)).
