Publications Details

In-situ permeable flow sensor

The In-situ Permeable Flow Sensor is a new type of implantable instrument under development at Sandia National Laboratories that uses thermal boundary layer pertubation techniques to rapidly determine the three-dimensional velocity vector of groundwater flow in soils or permeable geologic media. This sensor is based on the refinement of previous technology, the Convective Heat Flow Probe, developed for the scientific study of the flow of geothermal fluids in thermally active regions of the earth's crust. The Convective Heat Flow Probe was designed as a logging tool for use in open or uncased boreholes. The newer In-situ Permeable Flow Sensor is based on the same theoretical principles but is designed to be permanently buried at waste or cleanup sites where long term monitoring of groundwater flow is of interest. This instrument is sensitive to permeable flows as low as a few meters per year.