Portable/Expendable Heat and Fluid Flow Probes

At SMU, I have developed three different types of portable heat and fluid flow probe systems. Two are for rapid deployment for quick thermal gradient measurements. A Third has been developed for long-term temperature monitoring in the seafloor/lake floor.

The above image shows a series of closely spaced thermistors on a metal track being immersed in epoxy. This temperature Pogo probe, powered by a battery and solar cells, was deployed for a year in the bottom of a lake bed, where it collected temperature measurements on 18 thermistors.

Above: portable/expendable geothermal gradient probe with bluetooth data transmission capability, outrigged on a gravity corer. This probe was successfully deployed in the offshore the Lesser Antilles, with preliminary results presented in Fall 2019 at AGU (Below).

All of the probes have been designed, developed and tested in my lab, and have now been used internationally for both heat and fluid flow studies. The most recent designs can be used for long-term deployment (ideally up to a year), have real-time telemetry, as well as bottom camera imagery to assess changes sea/lake bottom characteristics (Below). these systems are specifically designed for rapid deployment, recovery, and download so that scientists can get assess temperature/fluid-flow at (or very close to) real time. These probes are low-cost, potentially expendable systems that can be deployed in large numbers at minimal investment.