First Evidence of Peat Domes in the Congo Basin using LiDAR from a Fixed-Wing Drone
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- Ian J. Davenport
- School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FF, UK
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- Iain McNicol
- School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FF, UK
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- Edward T. A. Mitchard
- School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FF, UK
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- Greta Dargie
- School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
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- Ifo Suspense
- École Normale Supérieure, Université Marien Ngouabi, Brazzaville 99324, Republic of the Congo
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- Brice Milongo
- École Normale Supérieure, Université Marien Ngouabi, Brazzaville 99324, Republic of the Congo
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- Yannick E. Bocko
- Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Marien NGOUABI, Brazzaville 99324, Republic of the Congo
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- Donna Hawthorne
- School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews, Scotland KY16 9AJ, UK
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- Ian Lawson
- Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9AL, UK
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- Andy J. Baird
- School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
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- Susan Page
- School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
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- Simon L. Lewis
- School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
書誌事項
- 公開日
- 2020-07-09
- 権利情報
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- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- DOI
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- 10.3390/rs12142196
- 公開者
- MDPI AG
説明
<jats:p>The world’s most extensive tropical peatlands occur in the Cuvette Centrale depression in the Congo Basin, which stores 30.6 petagrams of carbon (95% CI, 6.3–46.8). Improving our understanding of the genesis, development and functioning of these under-studied peatlands requires knowledge of their topography and, in particular, whether the peat surface is domed, as this implies a rain-fed system. Here we use a laser altimeter mounted on an unmanned airborne vehicle (UAV) to measure peat surface elevation along two transects at the edges of a peatland, in the northern Republic of Congo, to centimetre accuracy and compare the results with an analysis of nearby satellite LiDAR data (ICESat and ICESat-2). The LiDAR elevations on both transects show an upward slope from the peatland edge, suggesting a surface elevation peak of around 1.8 m over ~20 km. While modest, this domed shape is consistent with the peatland being rainfed. In-situ peat depth measurements and our LiDAR results indicate that this peatland likely formed at least 10,000 years BP in a large shallow basin ~40 km wide and ~3 m deep.</jats:p>
収録刊行物
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- Remote Sensing
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Remote Sensing 12 (14), 2196-, 2020-07-09
MDPI AG
