Heat is used as a tracer for a variety of physical hydrogeological process. Several types of instruments are used to measure the temperature of surface water and saturated sediments. In the Quashnet River we have been using methods that include: infrared, individual logging thermistors, and fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing. The latter type of data (FO_DTS) are described and presented here.

Heat is used as a tracer for a variety of physical hydrogeological process. Several types of instruments are used to measure the temperature of surface water and saturated sediments. In the Quashnet River we have been using methods that include: infrared, fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing, and individual logging thermistors. The latter type of data (thermistor) are described and presented here.

Fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (FO-DTS) cables were deployed along the sediment/water interface to map high spatial resolution temperature variations along the streambed. These variations are used to detect zones of groundwater discharge. Data are to be used in conjunction with electromagnetic imaging (EMI) and ground penetrating radar (GPR) data. The combined dataset represents point in time mapping of preferential groundwater discharge points (FO-DTS), and the bed structure that controls where these points are located (GPR, EMI).

Surface geophysical tools remotely sense hydrogeological properties that can control subsurface flow and water quality. There are numerous geophysical tools, for the Quashnet River work we have principally used ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electromagnetic imaging (EMI). The instruments are either hand carried or floated down the stream channel and other cross-sections of the river corridor. Data from various field deployments of GPR and EMI are described and presented here.

Heat is used as a tracer for a variety of physical hydrogeological process. For ongoing studies related to groundwater/surface water exchange, temperatures of streambed sediment along the bank, in drainage ditches, and in the river were measured using handheld thermal infrared (FLIR Systems, Inc) cameras and thermocouple (Digi-Sense, Inc) probes. Thermal surveys of the Quashnet river were completed from August 14 to August 25, 2017. Zones of spatially-preferential groundwater discharge were identified as cold anomalies in summer, reflecting the influence from groundwater temperatures of approximately 11 degrees Celsius.

The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife has been studying brook trout populations in Cape Cod groundwater-fed river systems for decades. Recently, a notable reduction in trout population in the Santuit River sparked the concern of several groups, including the Wampanoag Tribe. Brook trout population dynamics may be tied to water quality and temperature changes, which are both impacted by spatially preferential groundwater discharge to the river. The streambed interface temperature and near-surface geophysical data compiled in this data release were collected in summer 2018 as part of a larger effort to characterize the spatial distribution of groundwater discharge zones, and exchanges with surface water, along Cape Cod stream systems. Fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (FO-DTS) cables were deployed along the sediment/water interface to map high spatial resolution temperature variations along the streambed that are used to locate discharges. Geophysical data include towed ground penetrating radar (GPR) data to image near surface streambed structure, and hand-carried electromagnetic imaging (EMI) data to indicate changes in streambed water quality and/or near surface sediments. Therefore, this combined dataset represents point-in-time mapping of preferential groundwater discharge points (FO-DTS), and the bed structure that controls where these points are located (GPR, EMI).

Natural heat is used as a tracer for a variety of physical hydrogeological process, including zones of preferential exchange between groundwater and surface water. Several types of instruments are used to measure the temperature of surface water and saturated sediments. This data release presents the results of fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (FO-DTS) using temperature sensitive armored cables deployed along the riverbed interface. Data were collected over time (08/06/2015 to 09/24/2015) at 1.01 m spatial resolution along a reach of the Little Wind River, WY, USA. This study reach included an upstream shallow side channel where the cable was exposed to air over several short segments, and a downstream deeper section where the cable was generally installed within 5 m of the bank. The FO-DTS system was setup to collect a temperature measurement along this cable every 40 min; however, solar power to the control unit failed intermittently during the deployment period, especially later in the record, so the data are of inconsistent timestep. The processed data included in this release have been clipped to a cable length and time period of specific interest, as described in the local readme files.

This child page contains fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing data collected from March 13-March 16, 2018 at the North Chevalier Field Disposal Area (Site 11) at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Pensacola Bay in Florida. A fiber-optic cable was run on the bottom of the bay parallel to the shoreline along an approximate 370-meter reach. The cable was installed near the shoreline just far enough offshore that most of it remained submerged at low tide. At the end of the reach, the cable was doubled back and installed parallel to, and approximately one meter offshore, of the first run. At the end of the second run, the cable was run ashore and connected to an Oryx Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) system. Near the DTS, several coils of the fiber optic cable were submerged in an ice slurry for the duration of the survey as a quality control measure. Temperature was measured every 15 minutes at one-meter intervals along the length of the cable. The temperature data, which are reported by the instrument as linear fiber distance, were georeferenced using a handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) for the purpose of relating known points in space to the distance along the fiber-optic cable. Additional details of the temperature survey can be found using the link to the companion U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Scientific Investigations Report.

This Data Release includes temperature measurements collected using a wrapped fiber-optic tool in a Cape Cod, MA streambed on 06/06/2016 to demonstrate the application of the manuscript: Kurylyk, B.L., Irvine, D.J, Carey, S., Briggs, M.A., Werkema, D., and Bonham, M., 2017, Heat as a hydrologic tracer in shallow and deep heterogeneous media: analytical solution, spreadsheet tool, and field applications, Hydrological Processes. The directory RAW_DATA contains the measured temperature time series at varied depth in the streambed along the vertical fiber-optic HRTS tool as described in the local read.me file. The OUTPUT directory contains simple statistical analysis (min/max, mean, stdev) of the raw temperature data as described in the local read.me file.

The data set includes temperature data from the base of the water column along the sediment interface of Ellerbe Creek, Durham, North Carolina, USA, in support of a study regarding groundwater/surface water exchange. The data were collected from 07/18/2017 to 07/26/2017 using a fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing system that has 1.01 m spatial resolution along the linear fiber-optic cable. During data analysis, the original 15 min measurments were averaged (arithmetic mean) for the entire period to potentially indicate colder groundwater inflows.