Wildfire temperature probe

About
This design project's objective is to create the third generation of the Wildfire temperature probe. The probe is buried in the ground before a wildfire passes over, and measures the temperature at different depths in the soil. This information is useful because the carbon released by the fire coats the soil and causes it to be water-repellent.

The driving characteristics for the probe are size and weight due to the fact that multiple units must be carried on site. Also, the size of the probe determines that size of the hole that needs to be dug to deploy the thermocouples.

Sponsor
The sponsor of this project is the USDA Forestry Service. Main contact: Pete Robichaud, probichaud@fs.fed.us

Concept Testing

 * First fire test


 * Outer case test