Raman-spectra distributed temperature sensing (DTS) uses inexpensive fiber optic cable to provide high- resolution temperature measurements over distances up to several kilometers. Since the 1980’s, this technology has been widely used for pipeline monitoring in the oil & natural gas industry as well as for fire detection. Recently, DTS has also emerged as a powerful tool in environmental sensing for diverse applications including stream and groundwater monitoring, cave micrometeorology, and soil moisture and snow cover measurements. Given its versatility, DTS is an exciting technology for many different aspects of climate change research in New Mexico. New Mexico Tech recently acquired a SensorTran DTS system as part of the research infrastructure initiative for NM EPSCoR RII3 (Climate Change Impacts on New Mexico’s Mountain Sources of Water), and there is a new NSF-funded DTS-lending program (CTEMPS) run by University of Nevada – Reno (www.ctemps.org). In order to use this technology to its fullest potential and insure that it contributes as much as possible to the goals of NM EPSCoR RII3, it is important that members of the wider NM research community understand this technology and its applications. In this way, researchers can decide how this technology is applicable to their own research and brainstorm possible implementation strategies in the broader context of climate change research in NM. The purpose of the proposed workshop is therefore four-fold:

1. To introduce DTS technology and its applications to NM researchers.
2. To train participants in the use of DTS with hands-on training exercises.
3. To apply DTS during the workshop to a field project that contributesto NM EPSCoR research in the Valles Caldera.
4. To discuss and brainstorm potential collaborations using DTS.

Contact Jevon Harding jharding@nmt.edu for registration information.