Over the centuries, anthropogenic pressure has severely impacted peatlands on the European continent. Peatlands cover ~ 21% (1.46 Mha) of Ireland’s land surface, but 85% have been degraded due to management activities (land use). Ireland needs to meet its 2030 climate energy framework targets related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from land use, land use change and forestry, including wetlands. Despite Ireland’s voluntary decision to include peatlands in this system in 2020, information on land use activities and associated GHG emissions from peatlands is lacking. This study strives to fill this information gap by using Landsat (5, 8) data with Google Earth Engine and machine learning to examine and quantify land use on Irish peatlands across three time periods: 1990, 2005 and 2019. Four peatland land use classes were mapped and assessed: industrial peat extraction, forestry, grassland and residual peatland. The overall accuracy of the classification was 86% and 85% for the 2005 and 2019 maps, respectively. The accuracy of the 1990 dataset could not be assessed due to the unavailability of high-resolution reference data. The results indicate that extensive management activities have taken place in peatlands over the past three decades, which may have negative impacts on its ecological integrity and the many ecosystem services provided. By utilising cloud computing, temporal mosaicking and Landsat data, this study developed a robust methodology that overcomes cloud contamination and produces the first peatland land use maps of Ireland with wall-to-wall coverage. This has the potential for regional and global applications, providing maps that could help understand unsustainable management practices on peatlands and the impact on GHG emissions.

几个世纪以来，人为压力严重影响了欧洲大陆的泥炭地。泥炭地覆盖约 21% (1.46 Mha) 的爱尔兰土地表面，但 85% 由于管理活动（土地利用）已经退化。爱尔兰需要实现其 2030 年气候能源框架目标，涉及土地利用、土地利用变化和林业（包括湿地）的温室气体 (GHG) 排放。尽管爱尔兰自愿决定在 2020 年将泥炭地纳入该系统，但仍缺乏有关泥炭地土地利用活动和相关温室气体排放的信息。本研究旨在通过使用 Landsat (5, 8) 数据以及 Google Earth Engine 和机器学习来检查和量化爱尔兰泥炭地三个时期（1990 年、2005 年和 2019 年）的土地利用情况，从而填补这一信息空白。四个泥炭地土地利用类别是绘制和评估：工业泥炭开采、林业、草原和残余泥炭地。 2005 年和 2019 年地图的分类总体准确率分别为 86% 和 85%。由于缺乏高分辨率参考数据，无法评估 1990 年数据集的准确性。结果表明，过去三十年来，泥炭地进行了广泛的管理活动，这可能对其生态完整性和提供的许多生态系统服务产生负面影响。通过利用云计算、时间镶嵌和陆地卫星数据，本研究开发了一种强大的方法，可以克服云污染，并生成爱尔兰第一张全面覆盖的泥炭地土地利用地图。这具有区域和全球应用的潜力，提供的地图可以帮助了解泥炭地的不可持续管理实践以及对温室气体排放的影响。