h-aero logo Peatland
h-aero above a peatland and wetland landscape

Making peatland restoration measurable

Airborne greenhouse-gas monitoring — low-noise and habitat-friendly above sensitive peatlands.

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The problem

Impact has to be measurable

Peatlands are the largest carbon stores on land. Drained peatlands release considerable amounts of CO₂, methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O). Restoration is effective climate protection — but its impact has to be proven. Peatlands are highly sensitive and hard to access: ground surveys are point-based and disturbing, and conventional drones startle the fauna.

The solution

Capture → Measure → Assess

A clear workflow — from the habitat-friendly flight to quantified restoration impact.

Step 1

Capture

Low-noise LTA flight close above the peatland surface — habitat-friendly and georeferenced.

Step 2

Measure

Greenhouse-gas laser sensors (CO₂, CH₄, N₂O) as payload — area-wide instead of point-based data.

Step 3

Assess

Modeling and before-after comparison to quantify the restoration impact.

Why h-aero

Habitat-friendly

Low-noise and without rotor downwash onto the sensitive peatland vegetation.

Precise low-altitude measurement

A stable platform for highly sensitive laser-spectroscopy payloads.

Research-validated

Developed in a BMBF consortium with partners from laser sensing, peatland research and reference-data measurement — in the MoReNAT-Q research project (halfway point reached, field missions 2026).

Applications

Fields of use over peatlands and wetlands

Area-wide, gentle capture where conventional methods reach their limits.

Greenhouse-gas fluxes

Area-wide capture of CO₂, methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) over the peatland surface.

Restoration impact verification

Quantifying rewetting over time (before-after).

Reference alignment

Complementing point-based eddy-covariance measurements with area-wide aerial data.

Carbon balance

Assessing the climate impact of intact and restored peatlands.

Protected-area monitoring

Non-invasive capture of sensitive, hard-to-access wetlands.

Habitat-friendly, low-noise, no rotor downwash onto the peatland vegetation.

Process

From first look to monitoring agreement

  1. Initial assessment — a joint evaluation of your area and your monitoring needs.
  2. Pilot flight — habitat-friendly capture and a first analysis of the measurement data.
  3. Monitoring agreement — recurring capture for impact verification.

In action

Real flights over a peatland site

Over the peatland we measure greenhouse gases (CH₄, CO₂, N₂O) right above the surface, so the platform deliberately flies only a few metres up here. Tethered, guided and free flight: the same platform that also flies over forests — here on measurement duty in autumn 2026.

In the wind, frame 1 of 5 In the wind, frame 2 of 5 In the wind, frame 3 of 5 In the wind, frame 4 of 5 In the wind, frame 5 of 5
In the wind: the streamer shows the wind direction as the nose turns into it — five seconds in five frames.
h-aero® zero+ as a tethered balloon above a measurement station
h-aero® zero+ as a tethered balloon above a measurement station
Climbing above 20 m, holding position on the tether
Climbing above 20 m, holding position on the tether
Directly overhead at 24 m
Directly overhead at 24 m
Aloft above the station: streamer taut, nose into the wind
Aloft above the station: streamer taut, nose into the wind
Before the run: tethered mode, anchor on a mobile base
Before the run: tethered mode, anchor on a mobile base
Guided on the line, 2–3 m above the ground (drone shot)
Guided on the line, 2–3 m above the ground (drone shot)
Free flight without a line, sensors on board (drone shot)
Free flight without a line, sensors on board (drone shot)
Free flight: low approach across the site (drone shot)
Free flight: low approach across the site (drone shot)
Measuring over the site in evening light
Measuring over the site in evening light

Data product

What a measurement looks like

During the flight, the readings appear on the map — as maximum, trace, time average and measurement coverage, together with a moving map showing envelope, shadow and ground projection. The demonstration below uses real flight paths and altitudes; the gas values in it are simulated.

Moving map demonstration: flight path with simulated gas values (CH₄), envelope and shadow over the aerial image — simulated values
Open demo measurement map Open moving map

Demonstration: simulated values, not measurement data.

The MoReNAT-Q project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) in the Quantum Systems programme under grant no. 13N17001. The authors are responsible for the content of this publication.

Next step

Experience a demo or plan a pilot flight?

Get to know the platform at a free demo in Baden-Baden, or talk to us about greenhouse-gas monitoring over your peatland.

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