Project leader: Prof. Dr. Philip Marzahn (University of Rostock)

The overarching aim of B6 is to deepen the spatio-temporal knowledge of rewetted fen peat and corresponding processes observed by remote sensing techniques. It is hypothesized that peatlands can be monitored by different remote sensing techniques at high precision and consequently show that mire breathing increases and inundated areas decrease over space and  time in rewetting fen peatlands. Furthermore we adress the hypothesis that peat and C sequestration in  rewetted fens is heterogenuous in space and that these spatial patterns can consequently be quantified by remote sensing techniques. We will prove the hypothesis by advancing the spatio-temporal retrieval of mire breathing by innovative techniques such as SBAS interferometry and link it to peat development as well as C sequestration. This will allow to delineate areas where rewetting is successful and those where it failed. The specific objectives are, thus, to (i) quantify the dynamic of peat soil subsidence at field and regional scale, (ii) to map inundated areas in wetscapes, (iii) to determine the soil moisture dynamics at regional scale, and, finally, (iv) to identify areas of rewetting success, which will enable C accumulation calculations.

The use of remote sensing data from the frequency range of microwaves allows to obtain information from the peat body over large areas. Subsidence of the peat in the mm range will be measured by LIDAR and interferometric techniques. This information will be used to directly derive GHG emission estimates by a GHG balance method proposed by Weinzierl and Waldmann (2015) or Minasny et al. (2024) and validated against in-situ data from the project. Furthermore, we will identify areas of success or failure of the rewetting measures by analyzing the spatio-temporal subsidence patterns. Spatio-temporal patterns of inundation will be monitored using Sentinel-1 as well as drone-based data streams. Spatially distributed soil moisture retrievals from Sentinel-1 data over MV will be delivered to the consortium. The applied techniques of observing spatio-temporal patterns of peat surface characteristics enable us to assess the resilience and vulnerability of peatlands to droughts and floods.