Abstract
Estimating the heat flux at the near-surface and atmospheric boundary in geothermal areas is a useful, yet difficult task. Through temperature measurements in the shallow subsurface, we can quantify the heat being transferred through soils, and many times the heat signature resulting from spatial measurements allows us to make suggestions about the system's flow and control paths. Despite the value in knowing this, through this study I have found that current methods used for measurement of soil temperatures may provide inaccurate readings if the tools used are made of a high thermal conductivity material, which in turn introduces error into the heat flux calculations. In this study, I use laboratory and field data to show that accurate shallow temperature gradients can be obtained using probes of low thermal conductivity material, these probes are described in detail. Additionally, I present a quantitative framework, which is currently lacking, for transient coupled land-air thermal interactions in geothermal systems.