![\"\"](\"http:\/\/d45h139.public.uconn.edu\/sites\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/students1a.jpg\" "\\"students1a\\"")
<\/a>An Environmental Engineering senior design team has recently showcased their novel sensing device during the national conference of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis, MN.\u00a0 Jenabay Hupman, Bryan Toohey and Sean Buckley, along with their advisor, Dr. John Lane, found an exciting forum to display their new temperature measuring device. \u00a0They developed the device to improve the ease and accuracy of temperature measurements in studies involving groundwater and surface water interaction.\u00a0 Such studies can provide valuable data regarding the health of ecosystems, detailing how a change in groundwater or surface water can affect the other.<\/p>\nIn these studies, temperature change can be used to track the flow of water between the ground and surface.\u00a0 Learning how the temperature in one of the water sources responds to a change in temperature in the other can help to determine the direction of the flow between the surface and groundwater.\u00a0 This information about flow can inform researchers about the effect of a change in one of the water sources, such as the addition of a certain contaminant, on the other water source.\u00a0 Information about temperature is also important because it can substantially affect the health of certain species living in the surface water.\u00a0 Most organisms have a specific temperature range that helps them to survive and fully thrive.\u00a0 Data on temperature can help improve conservation efforts and provide insights into the ecosystems of bodies of water, like lakes and wetlands.<\/p>\n
To get the temperature data, the current standard procedure is to insert a string of probes into the ground. \u00a0The two main problems with this technique are that it can be inaccurate and the entire setup has to be replaced whenever the probes need to be taken out or changed.\u00a0 To remedy this problem, the design team developed a probe they call RAMSES (Rapidly Adaptive Multi-Sensor System).\u00a0 The device is essentially a tube with sensors placed in it at different positions.\u00a0 One part of the tube is designed to measure the surface temperature, while the other is for the groundwater.\u00a0 The materials used to make the tube keep the different sections insulated, producing more accurate measurements.\u00a0 Furthermore, the design of the device makes it easy to change the sensors.\u00a0 Once the outer casing of the device is in the ground, it can stay there.\u00a0 All one needs to do is take the sensors out, leaving the tube in place in the ground.\u00a0 This allows all the sensors to be replaced or changed quickly and easily.\u00a0 Damaged sensors can be replaced and different measurements, such as electrical resistance, can be taken.<\/p>\n