Hutton research team install UK's northernmost peatland GHG monitoring station

"The data collected will feed into UK-wide research on understanding the net losses from peatlands in a degraded condition"

An all-female team of scientists from the James Hutton Institute travelled to Shetland to install the most northerly micrometeorological station in the UK to monitor greenhouse gas emissions from eroded peatland.

The station, set up on a site near Girlsta, will gather extremely high-frequency data for wind speed/direction, carbon dioxide and methane emissions from the peatland, as well as a large suite of weather and other data, including solar radiation, precipitation, humidity, soil and air temperature and water table depth.

These parameters allow researchers to assess the amount of carbon dioxide or methane released or taken up at this site.

Dr Rebekka Artz, research leader on Restoration and Adaptive Management at the Institute, said: “The data collected will feed into UK-wide research on understanding the net losses from peatlands in a degraded condition, both for the UK national greenhouse gas inventory, and to assess the potential emissions reductions that could be achieved by restoring such sites.”

Speaking to BBC Radio Shetland, GHG researcher Dr Mhairi Coyle commented: “In Scotland, we have huge areas of peatland, and it can potentially store more carbon than forests, but there are large areas at the moment that aren’t functioning quite as well, with forestry planted or severely degraded. We aim to inform policymakers about the best techniques for restoring it.”

For any other information or to get involved in this work or any potential future monitoring, contact Dr Coyle and Dr Artz by emailing ghgfluxes@hutton.ac.uk.