Seasonal fluctuations of water table depth are very important regarding the sustainable peat management on tropical peatland. Water level depth can affect the greenhouse gases emissions and as the main indicator for peat fire risk management. Therefore, direct measurement of water level dynamics in the peat burning area is absolutely necessary. The research objective was studied the water level fluctuations on burning peatland in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Water level measurement performed manually in the field and ditch, every week from February to December 2014. Water level from February to December 2014 were -86.6 and -51.9 cm, on the ditch and field, respectively. Peat soil water level was strongly correlated to the variations of rainfall.

Water level (TMA) and soil temperature are two keys of environmental factors for ecosystem peatland study and for peatland ecosystem sustainability as well as crop productivity on peatland. On the other hand, climate change is another factor that cannot be avoided and affects the peatland ecosystem. Fluctuation of water level and soil temperature more severe on El Niño or dry years. Therefore, monitoring of water level and soil temperature on peatland ecosystem is important for sustainable peat management, especially on the dry years. The study objective was to determine the dynamics of water level and soil temperature on peatlands ecosystem in El Niño years and compare them to the normal year conditions. Water level and soil temperature were conducted automatically on rubber plantations on tropical peatland in Jabiren, Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan, from January to December 2015. Water level on the field and canal drainage on tropical peatlands followed the variations of precipitation. Although the average of annual precipitation on El Niño year is almost the same as normal year, but the water level and soil temperature show quite significant differences to the normal years. In addition, even water level was deeper and soil temperature is quite high in the dry season of El Niño years, but this field did not burn because productive plants were growth managed well by the owner.

Ground Water level fluctuation data on tropical peatland is necessary to restore the degraded peatlands as well as for peatland sustainable management. Peatland restoration always begins with groundwater level restoration (GWL). Therefore, measurement of GWL is necessary for further management. GWL fluctuation on peat soil greatly varies even during a day, therefore automatic GWL measurements are inevitably needed. This study aim is to develop an automatic GWL measurement (TMA) by comparing 2 automatic water level loggers in tropical peatlands. This research was conducted in a rubber plantation on Peat Soil I in Jabiren, Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan, from February to December 2014. The measurement of GWL was conducted by manual measurement and using 2 automatic water level monitoring devices. Automatic GWL measurement showed a more detail variation than that of manual measurement. The different of GWL between manual, automatic 1 and 2 were on the range of 16-30 cm. Automatic measurement instruments that users were having their advantages or disadvantages, with the result of measurements were significantly different.