Method
Observe. Don't overclaim.
A chart is easy to draw. Peato's job is to help someone make a good decision about wet land, and that depends on being clear about what is measured and what is inferred.
The loop
Monitor, detect, inspect, act, measure.
The loop is the product. Each pass leaves a record, and each record makes the next decision better informed.
Monitor
Follow conditions across a field from whichever sources exist, with each source labelled.
Detect
Flag what deserves a look. Today that is two plain rules: a water level outside the user's own target band, and a device that stopped reporting.
Inspect
Go to the place and record what is there. Ground observations are also what any remote reading must eventually be checked against.
Act
Record the intervention with its reason and expected outcome. The right action depends on the site, so Peato prescribes none.
Measure
Record what the numbers did afterwards. Compare before and after. Then start again.
Provenance
A number is only as good as its source.
A sensor, a satellite and a person with a notebook do not measure the same thing at the same scale or with the same uncertainty. Peato keeps them apart and shows which one you are looking at.
Sensor reading
A value from a Peato device at a known point in the field.
Remote observation
Satellite or radar over an area, kept separate from ground data.
Imported dataset
Maps, boundaries and other layers whose meaning and reliability are understood.
Manual entry
What a person observed, with who, when and where. Legitimate data, and the main source in early pilots.
Derived estimate
Anything calculated from other data. Always labelled as derived.
In reports
Every report states its period, its scope and the sources behind each number.
Principles
Four rules we hold ourselves to.
Observation is not cause
If a number moved after an intervention, that is an observation. Whether the intervention caused it needs more than the app can know.
Thresholds belong to the site
Peato does not ship a universal “correct” water level. The user sets the target band, and defaults, when they exist, will come from science and not from us.
Measured, not guessed
Peato shows what is measured and labels what is derived. Predictions appear only where data and method support them.
Empty beats invented
A new field has a Setup state, not a made-up history. A missing reading is shown as missing.
Work plan
With scientists, in five steps.
We are looking for peatland scientists, hydrologists and remote-sensing researchers to shape this with us, as collaborators and not as a logo on a slide.
Claim audit
Define what Peato can honestly say now, what needs qualifying, and what needs validation.
Indicator framework
Choose the first variables and interpretations for peatland management workflows.
Pilot protocol
Site selection, sampling, sensor placement, frequency and evaluation criteria.
Validation map
How ground measurements relate to satellite, radar and GIS information.
Scientific specification
Turn the agreed science into app workflows, monitoring logic and hardware requirements.