Measurement of Groundwater Temperature for Underground Thermal Utilization

Abstract

For promotion of geothermal heat-pump systems in Asia, especially at moderate to tropical climate regions, it is important to understand the subsurface temperature distribution in populated areas. Subsurface temperature distribution in the Sendai plain was obtained by field measurements and numerical modeling of the groundwater flow. In this region, geothermal heat-pump can be applied for both space heating and cooling. For the region along the Chao-Phraya river in Thailand, results of temperature measurement in observation wells suggests that geothermal heat-pump may be applied for space cooling in the upper basin, but not in the lower one. Thus the possible potential geothermal heat-pump application at any location can be judged by comparing the subsurface and atmospheric temperatures. The final goal of our project is to make potential map of heat resources in major plains in East Asia for geothermal heat-pump application.