In March 2025 CSX commenced a full field trial of our new peatland carbon and greenhouse gas IoT monitoring sensor array. This being undertaken on Colsterdale Moor in the North Pennines.
This moor having undergone peatland restoration between 2017-2020, to block the existing grips and improve the health of the peatbog. It was an ideal location to collect data and monitor the carbon and greenhouse gas flux of a restored peatland. CSX deployed Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, including water table loggers and CO2 monitors, across this area to quantify how the restoration actions had improved the condition of the peat bog.
A healthy peatbog has a more stable water table, which remains close to the surface, and minimises the greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the layer of peat exposed to air. Oxidising peat being a critical factor in the emissions of carbon stored within the peat.
Innovative IoT Sensors
The IoT sensors, a water table logger with 4-5 CO2 monitors per cluster, allow CSX to accurately measure the water table remotely on a daily basis. Through measuring the CO2 concentration above the ground is an element to estimating the flux of CO2 of the moor. Data is collected at regular intervals through the day, and is relayed in near real-time through satellite and LoRaWAN networks allowing continual access to the datasets.
Peatland carbon IoT monitor
Peatland IoT water table sensor
The field trail involved the sensors being operational on the moor for six months, feeding data back to CSX HQ on a daily basis. This enabled near real time analysis of the health of the peat bog in relation to carbon and greenhouse gas activity.
Trial Results
The figure below shows the distribution of CO2 concentration readings from these sensors across the whole project period. Showing that whilst each sensor has a wide range of readings, identifiably due to weather conditions, there were on average significant periods below 420ppm (red line) – an estimate of atmospheric CO2 concentration.
CO2 levels above the peat over time
The average water table depth, as measured by the water table logger, over this project was 192mm below the surface, within the generally accepted healthy range of 150-200mm. By applying peer-reviewed methodologies from research done by UKCEH we can show that this corresponds to a Net Ecosystem Production of 0.84t C/ha/yr, a modest emitter of carbon to the atmosphere. Net Ecosystem Production (NEP) represents the net carbon uptake or release by an ecosystem, indicating its contribution to the global carbon cycle.
The figure below summarises the dataset, water table depth, rainfall and CO2 concentration from one group of sensors across the entire project period. This Figure shows how water table depth is strongly correlated with rainfall recorded.
The CO2 data gathered and presented here from the CSX Peatland IoT Monitoring system suggests that the CO2 concentration above the peat can be below atmospheric levels on a consistent basis. The factors affecting this result and its validity requires further investigation and verification.
To explore these relationships further CSX will be redeploying their IoT monitoring package back onto Colsterdale Moor in 2026.