Monitoring of Geothermal Activities by Infrared Measurement at the Komatsu-Jigoku Fumarolic Area Near the Hatchobaru Geothermal Power Station

Abstract

It is very important to clarify the effect of geothermal energy development on natural geothermal activities. There are many discussions about the problem so far but most of them are not based on the reliable field measurements. There is a natural fumarolic area called Komatsujigoku (c.a. 350m in length, 70 m in width) adjacent to the Hatchobaru geothermal power station in central Kyushu, Japan. The distance between the Komatsu-jigoku and the production zone of the Hatchobaru field is about 200 m to 600 m. Since 1952, five geothermal measurements by the direct method were conducted( Yamashita, 1952, Fukuda et al. ,1969, Yuhara et al., 1988). Since 1976, seven geothermal measurements by the infrared technique were also conducted by the authors. The Hatchobaru power station (55 MW) was constructed in June, 1977( Yoshida, 1980).