Articles | Volume 23, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-2959-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-2959-2026
Research article
 | 
04 May 2026
Research article |  | 04 May 2026

PeatDepth-ML: a global map of peat depth predicted using machine learning

Jade Skye, Joe R. Melton, Colin Goldblatt, Angela Gallego-Sala, Michelle Garneau, and Scott Winton

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Peat-DBase v.1: a compiled database of global peat depth measurements
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Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 7313–7330, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-7313-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-7313-2025, 2025
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Cited articles

Abatzoglou, J. T., Dobrowski, S. Z., Parks, S. A., and Hegewisch, K. C.: TerraClimate, a high-resolution global dataset of monthly climate and climatic water balance from 1958–2015, Sci. Data, 5, 170191, https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.191, 2018. a, b
Amatulli, G., McInerney, D., Sethi, T., Strobl, P., and Domisch, S.: Geomorpho90m, empirical evaluation and accuracy assessment of global high-resolution geomorphometric layers, Sci. Data, 7, 162, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0479-6, 2020. a
Anda, M., Ritung, S., Suryani, E., Sukarman, Hikmat, M., Yatno, E., Mulyani, A., Subandiono, R. E., Suratman, and Husnain: Revisiting tropical peatlands in Indonesia: Semi-detailed mapping, extent and depth distribution assessment, Geoderma, 402, 115235, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2021.115235, 2021. a
Austin, K. G., Elsen, P. R., Honorio Coronado, E. N., DeGemmis, A., Gallego-Sala, A. V., Harris, L., Kretser, H. E., Melton, J. R., Murdiyarso, D., Sasmito, S. D., Swails, E., Wijaya, A., Scott Winton, R., and Zarin, D.: Mismatch Between Global Importance of Peatlands and the Extent of Their Protection, Conserv. Lett., 18, e13080, https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.13080, 2025. a
Batjes, N. H., Ribeiro, E., and van Oostrum, A.: Standardised soil profile data to support global mapping and modelling (WoSIS snapshot 2019), Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 299–320, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-299-2020, 2020. a
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We developed PeatDepth-ML, a machine learning model predicting peat depth worldwide to help estimate carbon stocks in these climate-critical ecosystems. Our model predicts median depths of 134 cm in peatlands. Using bootstrapping, we rigorously assessed how sampling bias affects predictions. This revealed predictor selection and regional accuracy can vary greatly with different data subsets, demonstrating model reliability fundamentally depends on training data quality and geographic coverage.
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