About Peat Maps

The peat map is released as two different products, a classified map and a continuous map of the thickness of the organic layer. The peat maps are based on nearly 5,500 measurements of the thickness of the organic layer measured in the Swedish soil inventory. The peat map is based on the Soil moisture map. For those who want to understand how the map was produced, we refer to the method development article.

Continuous peat map

The continuous peat map shows the thickness of the organic layer (6-88 cm). It should only be used to illustrate the horizontal distribution of peat as the uncertainties in the peat depth are large (± 19 cm). Interpret the map like this: Where the map is yellow it is relatively certain that it is mineral soil, where the map is brown it is relatively certain that it is peat, in areas that show rapid color changes in orange it is the transition zone between peat and mineral soil where the exact demarcation is uncertain. Open water is indicated with the code 0.

Classified peat map

The classified map shows mineral soil, ≥ 30 cm peat depth, ≥ 40 cm peat depth, ≥ 50 cm peat depth, and water. Previous maps have underestimated the proportion of peatlands in Sweden. The topographic map's wetlands identify approx. 50% of the peatlands, while the Quaternary deposits map identifies approx. 70% of the peatlands. The new classified peat map identifies about 80% of the peat lands. The peat map is mainly for use in wetland restoration, in forest planning, for e.g. off road driving, road construction, placement of crossings over waterways, placement of sidings, etc. For more information about the map see the documentation (Dokumentation Torvkarta 1.0.pdf) and the research article.

Anyone has the right to download and use the Peat Maps.

When publishing, the source must be stated: Source: Peat map, Department of Forest Ecology and Management, SLU or in English Source: Peatmap, Dept. of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

For scientific citations: 

Ågren, A. M., Hasselquist, E. M., Stendahl, J., Nilsson, M. B., and Paul, S. S. (2022) Delineating the distribution of mineral and peat soils at the landscape scale in northern boreal regions, SOIL, 8, 1-17, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-79.

Facts:

• The peat map consists of surface-covering information with a high degree of detail over most of Sweden's forest land.
• The basic format is raster data with a resolution of 2×2 meters in the SWEREF99TM projection.
• The peat map contains information on the distribution of mineral soil and peatlands (≥ 30 cm peat depth, ≥ 40 cm peat depth and ≥ 50 cm peat depth) as well as open water.
• The continuous map shows the organic layer thickness (6-88 cm)
• The map is produced for the entire landscape, but as the map is trained on data from forest land, the results cannot be assessed for quality on other land.
• The maps that form the basis of the calculations come from Lantmäteriet, SGU and SMHI.
• By processing the national elevation model (NNH) SLU has produced a series of variables that can model soil moisture, which in turn is used to map the peatlands.