Studying Indonesian peat as it smoulders
05 Feb 2026 - Rosie de Laune
Burning peatland in Indonesia releases large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere and can lead to acute respiratory diseases. In a unique and complex experiment, teams across ISIS worked together to enable neutron imaging of peat as it smouldered.
Indonesia is home to more than 24 million hectares of peatlands, making it one of the largest tropical peatland regions in the world. In their natural state, these ecosystems form in waterlogged swamps where plant material accumulates over thousands of years, creating thick layers of carbon‑rich soil. Tropical peatlands act as one of nature’s most effective carbon sinks, storing vast amounts of carbon and continuously removing it from the atmosphere. By regulating greenhouse gas levels, they play a crucial role in mitigating global warming while also supporting biodiversity and maintaining hydrological balance across the landscape.
Draining peatlands to provide land for palm oil, paper and rubber plantations has left vast areas of peatland dried out. As peat is essentially an early stage of coal it is highly flammable and, when peat burns, it releases up to ten times more carbon than forest fires. Dried peatlands are highly susceptible to smouldering combustion, often triggered by slash‑and‑burn land clearing practices. Once ignited, these fires can persist underground for months, despite firefighting efforts and completely suppressed only when rainy season arrived.
Because this smouldering occurs underground, it is challenging to understand how it spreads through the peat. Yulianto Nugroho and Muhammad Agung Santoso from Universitas Indonesia and IMAT instrument scientist Ranggi Ramadhan realised that neutron imaging could provide a unique perspective. The ability of neutrons to interact with light elements would enable the imaging of the burning peat, and their penetration power means they could do this while the peat burnt in a sample environment that recreated the conditions underground.
From a setup perspective, everything proceeded as planned, and we successfully controlled the smoke generated by the smouldering process. This is a great example of how different teams at ISIS can work together to enable excellent science.
Ranggi Ramadhan
However, creating such a sample environment where peat could burn in a safe and controlled matter was their next challenge. The team worked closely with technical staff from teams across ISIS and built and tested the setup in the Thermodynamic Laboratory of Mechanical Engineering in Universitas Indonesia. They then flew to ISIS, bringing the experimental setup and peat sample with them. Alongside the tropical peat sample, they also supported with boreal peat sample from Guillermo Rein and Hafizha Mulyasih of Hazelab research group at Imperial College London.
Once at ISIS, the experiment went very well. “From a setup perspective, everything proceeded as planned, and we successfully controlled the smoke generated by the smouldering process,” explains Ranggi. “James Taylor and James Tellam from the sample safety team worked with us from the conceptual stage of the experiment and ensured that everything was carried out in the safest possible manner. This is a great example of how different teams at ISIS can work together to enable excellent science.”
From a scientific point of view, neutron imaging enables, for the first time, cross-sectional visualisation of smouldering peat. Because neutrons are highly sensitive to hydrogen, moisture loss at the smouldering front can be tracked, while soil collapse and the transformation of peat into char and ash can be observed simultaneously. “Such information was previously only accessible through simulations, but can now be experimentally validated,” said Agung, the Principal Investigator. “This novel approach opens new avenues for future research in peat smouldering studies”.
