Aerial Thermography of Geothermal Features in Boise, Idaho

In this case, aerial thermography of man-made "geothermal" features. The aerial thermograph below is of the St. Luke's Regional Medical Center at the intersection of Broadway and Warm Springs Blvds. in Boise, Idaho.

It was acquired on 3/28/11 with an outside air temperature of 5° Celsius at approximately 2130 hours (9:30pm).

The arrows identified A., B. and C. point to under-street geothermal lines from the Warm Springs District to the south east (south east is at the "top" of this image). The very bright points along the geothermal line routes are probably access points such as manhole covers.

However, the most intersting feature of this image is contained withing the thin red oval. That is the ambulance entrance/exit to the St. Luke's Emergency Room. I already knew that it was heated because we imaged it from the ground several weeks ago, and we knew that there are areas of less than ideal heating effect on the driveway (which incidentally is not level). To be able to identify those irregularities from the air at "low" resolution is really a testament to the camera...so, thank you, FLIR.

The following image is of Warm Springs Blvd. approximately 1 mile south east of St. Luke's, where the main geothermal line cuts over from Warm Springs Drive to the north east and joins Warm Springs Bvld. as it travels toward Boise State University and downtown Boise. The geothermal line's signature is wonderfully obvious even though the outside air temperature is well above freezing and the afternoon was reasonably sunny (so the asphalt pavement did accumulate a thermal load prior to sunset). These are hardly ideal conditions for aerial thermography, yet the results are outstanding.

L