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Using this approach, the area of soil considered ‘peaty’ within Tellus’ survey zone has potentially increased to 30pc.
Led by a team from the University of Galway, Irish researches have created a unique approach involving gamma rays to find peat soil spread throughout the country.
Using a combination of analytical techniques and data from the Geological Survey Ireland’s nationwide Tellus aerial survey, the team of scientists were able to find where peat soils are present across 80pc of the country based on environmental gamma ray measurements.
“Gamma rays are invisible, high-energy photons, like light, that are released during natural radioactive decay of materials in rocks and soils,” explained Dr Dave O’Leary, lead author of the new study.
“Peat soils have a unique ability to block this type of naturally occurring radiation, drastically reducing the number of gamma rays detected by the sensor mounted on the Tellus aircraft when flying over peat soils.”
Alongside O’Leary, the study was co-led by Dr Eve Daly from the Hydrogeophysics and Remote Sensing research group at University of Galway in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Teagasc and Geological Survey Ireland, which funded this study.
Focusing on the tendency of peat soil to block gamma radiation, the team was able to train a machine learning algorithm to identify similar soil in the top 60cm of the land where the Tellus craft flew.
The team clarified that while peat depth cannot be directly measured using this technique, the new analysis gives insights into the extent of peat soil in the country.
In addition, the study also identified areas where soil changes from peat to mineral, which are typically hidden under forests and grasslands, but are measurable using the sensor on the aircraft.
Using this new research approach, the area of soil considered “peaty” within the area of the Tellus aircraft surveyed has potentially increased from 24pc to 30pc.
A study from 2024 between the University of Galway, TCD and Queen’s University Belfast found that peat soils covered a land area of 1.66m hectares, or more than 23pc of the country.
“In general, people are relatively familiar or have heard of radon, but what they might not know is that this is a by-product of naturally occurring uranium in the rocks below our feet, which also emits gamma radiation,” said O’Leary.
“There are several sources of this natural radiation in the environment and our study uses the unique relationship between this radiation and peat soils to identify where peat is likely to be present.
“Few countries have invested in such an incredible dataset,” he added, referring to the Tellus survey, “which puts Ireland at the forefront of peatland mapping research. Importantly, the data is free to use.”
While Daly said that this study provides decision makers and regulators with more accurate spatial data on the extent of peat soil in Ireland which can assist in actions that mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
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