Ground surface temperature reconstructions: Using in situ estimates for thermal conductivity acquired with a fiber-optic distributed thermal perturbation sensor

B. M. Freifeld, S. Finsterle, T. C. Onstott, P. Toole, L. M. Pratt

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105 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have developed a borehole methodology to estimate formation thermal conductivity in situ with a spatial resolution of one meter. In parallel with a fiber-optic distributed temperature sensor (DTS), a resistance heater is deployed to create a controlled thermal perturbation. The transient thermal data is inverted to estimate the formation's thermal conductivity. We refer to this instrumentation as a Distributed Thermal Perturbation Sensor (DTPS), given the distributed nature of the DTS measurement technology. The DTPS was deployed in permafrost at the High Lake Project Site (67°22′N, 110°50′W), Nunavut, Canada. Based on DTPS data, a thermal conductivity profile was estimated along the length of a wellbore. Using the thermal conductivity profile, the baseline geothermal profile was then inverted to estimate a ground surface temperature history (GSTH) for the High Lake region. The GSTH exhibits a 100-year long warming trend, with a presentday ground surface temperature increase of 3.0 ± 0.8°C over the long-term average.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numberL14309
JournalGeophysical Research Letters
Volume35
Issue number14
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 28 2008

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Geophysics
  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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