Surface motion data from 51 peatland sites in England, 2022-2025

Peat surface motion was measured using 2 hourly image collection against a fixed point marker. A camera on a floating platform took pictures of a fixed point marker, and image analysis code converted these images into a time series of vertical motion. Water table depth was measured using a calibrated pressure sensor that had been laboratory calibrated at depths of 50, 100, 150 and 200 cm prior to installation. Soil temperature was measured at 10 cm depth.
Images and data were processed daily and appended to master files by site number. Automated QA removed images that were of insufficient sharpness (due to precipitation or mist / fog), and updated step changes following site visits, and manual QA checks were carried out by project staff.
Periods of missing data could relate to a number of factors including: lack of mobile signal for telemetry of data (though these gaps were infilled where data was stored locally), battery failure, and flooding of instruments.
Manual QA detected where there were unusual data records (unusually high or low motion values) and these were checked against the original images to determine the correct value. One particular issue relates to the freeze-thaw action in the soil, which in a few cases dislodged the measurement platform leading to a step in the peat motion time series. These were manually corrected.