Abstract

The demand for thermal site characterization has risen noticeably in the past decade, particularly for design of geothermal energy solutions and for design of in-ground power cable networks. The results of thermal characterization of a site are typically incorporated in a ground model based on environmental, geological, geophysical and geotechnical geodata. This paper compares in-situ test methods for thermal site characterization of soil. The comparison considers method applicability, deployment method, maximum test depth, test duration and uncertainty of results. A distinction is made between three categories of in-situ tests: (1) in-situ tests using active heat generation, (2) in-situ tests using passive heat generation and (3) in-situ tests with no specific thermal data acquisition