This seminar is part of the Tuesday Seminar Series organized by the Center for Hydrogeology and Geothermics (CHYN) at the University of Neuchâtel. We are pleased to welcome Dr. Olivier Bour from the University of Rennes, who will who will present recent advances in Active-Distributed Temperature Sensing for studying subsurface flow and solute transport.

Abstract

In the last twenty years, heat has been widely used as a groundwater tracer, especially with the development of Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) which allow to measure temperature along fiber optic cable at an unprecedented high frequency and spatial resolution. Among the different applications, the use of DTS in an active mode (A-DTS) for which heat sources are deployed, are very promising to study hydrogeological processes. Here, we review some recent developments and applications of active-distributed temperature sensing, which demonstrate the interest and current limitations of A-DTS. We will focus in particular on the estimation of the temporal and spatial variability of sub-surface flows at river-groundwater interfaces and on the characterization of flow variabilities and solute transport in granular aquifers.