Effects of site characteristics on cumulative frequency distribution of water table depth in peatlands

Water table depth is the key parameter controlling the fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O from peat soils. An improved knowledge about its annual dynamics and the dependence on site characteristics can improve the regionalization of water table depth and greenhouse gas emissions. We propose that the beta continuous density function is suited for characterizing the shape of water table depth frequency distributions. Our analysis of continuous water level records in 70 peatland sites shows that land use type, peatland type, catchment size and soil properties are promising upscaling parameters.