The gas equilibrium membrane inlet mass spectrometry (GE-MIMS) method for dissolved-gas quantification was expanded to work in water at high pressures.

Soil moisture monitoring is important for many applications, from improving weather prediction to supporting agriculture practices. Our capability to measure this variable is still, however, limited. In this study, we show the tests conducted on a new soil moisture sensor at several locations. The results show that the new sensor is a valid and compact alternative to more conventional, non-invasive soil moisture sensors that can pave the way for a wide range of applications.

Data recorded with transient electromagnetics are typically gated to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. Gating corresponds to low-pass filtering of data with the shape of the gate giving the frequency response. We show that standard gate shapes can lead to significant correlation between gates caused by distortion from VLF radios. A multi-objective cost function is used to select optimum gate shapes with less influence from radio noise. Performance is demonstrated using synthetic and field data.

Magnetic field measurements in space can be contaminated by stray magnetic fields from their host satellite. We present an automated tool for measuring the magnetic field generated by potential satellite and instrument components to identify those that may degrade the measurements taken on orbit. This tool is designed for use by the Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) Small Explorers mission and is currently being used for mission design activities.

Manual chambers for soil respiration monitoring can be cost-effective yet rather accurate devices. The described chamber is relatively low in cost and entirely built from commercial parts, which makes it very accessible for almost everybody. Our chamber is robust, simple to operate, and very suitable for a large-scale punctual campaign and for educational purposes. Oxygen sensors bring some more insights into our soil respiration understanding.

Research data resulting from geoscientific laboratory methods comprise multiple types and formats. A diversity of Earth system science fuels are needed to make research data available to scientists beyond a particular discipline. Global working groups define standards and create tools to improve research data handling in general. Adaption of these solutions to the needs of the geoscientific disciplines is vital to enable the development of a widely applicable geoscientific laboratory database.

Natural gas hydrate (GH) is a significant potential energy source. However, the gas production rate of past GH production tests is much lower than the requirement of commercial gas production. Reservoir stimulation technologies like hydraulic fracture provide one potential approach to enhance gas production from GH. This paper presents an experimental facility that was developed to analyze the hydraulic fracture mechanism in a synthesized hydrate-bearing sediments.

Heat storage in the soil is difficult to measure due to vertical heterogeneity. To improve measurements, we designed a 3D-printed probe that uses fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing to measure a vertical profile of soil temperature. We validated the temperature measurements against standard instrumentation. With the high-resolution data we were able to determine the thermal diffusivity of the soil at a resolution of 2.5 cm, which is much higher compared to traditional methods.