Mapping Ireland's peatlands to help cut carbon emissions

Description

University of Galway have created a new approach to finding peat soil, giving insight to where carbon is stored in the ground.

Through a combination of state-of-the-art analytical techniques and data from the Geological Survey Ireland nationwide Tellus aerial survey, the research team has provided a revised picture of where peat soils are present across 80 % of Ireland, based on environmental gamma radiation measurements. The findings also offer huge potential to influence policy around land use and interventions to mitigate against greenhouse gas emissions.

The study was led by Dr Eve Daly and Dr Dave O’Leary from the Hydrogeophysics and Remote Sensing research group at University of Galway in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin, Teagasc and Geological Survey Ireland.