Field-Adaptable Digital Thermistor Strings for Research Deployments
When your field site does not match the plan, your temperature monitoring system should still work.
FieldTemp is a modular digital thermistor string temperature profiling system for permafrost, cryosphere, geotechnical, and field research projects that need flexible sensor spacing, simple data logging, and field-adaptable deployment options.
Up to Sensor Strings per Logger
Up to Sensors per String
mA Average Current
Apps Required
What is FieldTemp?
FieldTemp is a modular temperature profiling system for researchers who need reliable temperature data from real field deployments.
A FieldTemp system starts with a rugged data logger and expands through digital temperature sensor strings, weatherproof cables, splitters, air temperature accessories, telemetry, and flexible power options. Use it to monitor temperature profiles in permafrost, snow, soil, rock, boreholes, concrete, or other research environments where sensor spacing and deployment geometry matter.
Unlike fixed temperature sensor cables that must be fully defined before deployment, FieldTemp is built around adaptable sensor strings. We can build a complete system for your project, or you can purchase stocked FieldTemp parts and configure the system yourself. The system is designed to adapt to changing plans, research goals, and field conditions.
Built for Field Sites That Do Not Follow the Plan
Research deployments rarely go exactly the way they looked in the proposal. Boreholes stop short. Ground conditions change. Sensor spacing that made sense in the lab may need to change once you are actually standing at the site. Maybe you’re trying to reuse some equipment on a new project – FieldTemp is designed for reality.
Instead of locking your project into a fixed, one-and-done temperature cable, FieldTemp uses modular digital temperature strings that can be configured for your deployment and adapted when conditions change.
Adjust sensor spacing to fit the borehole, trench, snow pit, or installation depth you actually get.
Use locally available PEX tubing and simple tools for field-adaptable string construction.
Reuse sensors and components across future deployments instead of treating every cable as disposable.
We were not sure how deep our borehole would be until we arrived in the field and determined our deployment location. The ability to assemble the system in the field, make on-site decisions about sensor spacing, and power it with a single battery made this a straightforward deployment.
Why Researchers Choose FieldTemp
FieldTemp is built for research deployments where flexibility, serviceability, and practical field workflows matter as much as the measurement itself.
Adaptable Sensor Spacing
Build temperature strings for the deployment you planned, then adapt them when the site changes. FieldTemp strings can be configured with custom sensor spacing and assembled with PEX tubing that can be sourced locally and modified with simple tools.
Research-Grade Logging Without a Black Box
Configure the logger from a phone or laptop using a local browser interface. Data are stored on a microSD card in a simple text format, so you are not locked into proprietary software just to read your own measurements.
More Measurements From One Logger
A single FieldTemp logger can monitor up to 12 temperature strings, with up to 128 digital temperature sensors per string. That means fewer boxes, fewer batteries, fewer power systems, and less equipment to haul into the field.
Buy the System Your Way
Order a complete FieldTemp system configured for your deployment, or shop stocked loggers, sensor strings, cables, splitters, and accessories directly. You can get ballpark pricing without waiting through a slow quote-only process.
No App. No Internet. No Proprietary Software.
FieldTemp does not require a dedicated app, internet connection, or proprietary configuration software. When you press the configure button, the logger creates its own local Wi-Fi network. Connect with a phone, tablet, or computer, open a web browser, and adjust the logger settings through the built-in configuration page.
From the local web interface you can set sensor strings, choose the logging interval, update the logger time, change the admin password, view error messages, test-read connected sensors, and prepare the system for deployment.
Press configure → Join local Wi-Fi → Open browser → Set logger options → Save and deploy
Sensor Strings You Can Adapt When the Site Changes
FieldTemp sensor strings are built for one of the biggest realities of field research: the site does not always match the plan. Boreholes come up short. Snow depth changes. Ground conditions force adjustments. Sensor spacing that looked perfect in the lab may need to change once you are actually in the field.
Instead of locking you into a fixed, one-and-done cable, FieldTemp uses digital temperature sensors that are assembled into adaptable sensor strings. Each string combines calibrated sensor elements, a sensor head unit, protective PEX tubing, and simple field-ready assembly methods to create a practical temperature profiling tool for real deployments.
The result is a system that gives you options. We can build complete sensor strings for your project, or you can adapt the string layout to fit your actual installation. Because the tubing and assembly tools are simple and widely available, it is easier to respond to real field conditions without throwing away the entire system.
Why this matters
- Adjust sensor spacing to fit the borehole, trench, or installation you actually achieve
- Use simple, commonly available PEX tubing and hand tools
- Reuse sensor components across future deployments
- Avoid the cost and inflexibility of fixed temperature cables
- Build a system that matches your research instead of forcing your research to match the cable
Built for Research Temperature Profiles
FieldTemp is designed for projects where temperature changes with depth, distance, material, or exposure. From frozen ground to near-surface air temperature, the system gives researchers a practical way to collect temperature profiles without locking the deployment into a fixed cable layout.
Cryosphere & Permafrost Research
FieldTemp is especially well suited for cryosphere and permafrost research where temperature profiles are needed through frozen ground, snow, ice, or shallow subsurface materials. In these deployments, field conditions rarely match the ideal plan. Boreholes may stop short, snow conditions may vary across a site, and installation geometry may need to change once the team is actually in the field.
FieldTemp’s modular digital temperature strings let researchers build useful temperature profiles without committing everything to a fixed cable layout before deployment. Sensor spacing can be planned ahead of time, then adapted to the actual borehole depth or field installation using simple tools and field-ready components.
Borehole & Ground Temperature Monitoring
For borehole and ground temperature monitoring, sensor spacing matters. A few centimeters or meters can change the usefulness of a temperature profile, especially when you are trying to understand gradients, thaw depth, groundwater influence, or near-surface thermal behavior.
FieldTemp sensor strings can be configured for boreholes, trenches, soil columns, shallow subsurface studies, and other ground temperature deployments. Instead of forcing your study into a fixed, factory-built cable, FieldTemp gives you a practical way to match the temperature string to the installation you actually achieve.
Geotechnical & Environmental Monitoring
Geotechnical and environmental monitoring projects often need reliable temperature data, but not every site justifies a fully custom industrial monitoring system. FieldTemp fills the space between building your own logger from scratch and buying a fixed, quote-only temperature cable system that may include features you do not need.
Use FieldTemp for ground temperature monitoring, rock or concrete temperature measurements, environmental field sites, and instrumentation projects where rugged hardware and adaptable deployment options are more useful than a black-box system. The logger, sensor strings, cables, splitters, and power options can be combined to fit the site without making the system unnecessarily complicated.
Surface & Air Temperature Measurements
Subsurface temperature data often makes more sense when it is paired with surface or air temperature measurements. FieldTemp air temperature accessories use the same system architecture as the subsurface strings, so air and ground measurements can be logged together by the same FieldTemp logger.
The radiation shield accessory helps protect the air temperature sensor from direct solar radiation while allowing passive airflow around the sensor. This gives researchers a practical way to compare surface conditions with subsurface temperature profiles without adding a separate logger, data workflow, or software package.
A Modular System Built Around Your Deployment
FieldTemp Logger
The logger is the central hub of the system. It powers the connected sensor strings, records temperature data to a microSD card, and can be configured from a phone or laptop through a local browser interface.
Digital Temperature Strings
Sensor strings contain digital temperature sensors arranged at the spacing needed for your deployment. Strings can be built by Leeman Geophysical or assembled and adapted using field-ready components and locally available PEX tubing.
Weatherproof Cables and Splitters
M8 weatherproof cables and splitters connect the logger to one or more sensor strings. A single logger can support multiple strings, helping reduce the number of loggers, batteries, and enclosures needed in the field.
Power Options
FieldTemp loggers can be configured for internal batteries or external field power, including integration with FieldVolt systems or other suitable 12 V power sources.
Air Temperature
Surface and air temperature measurements can be added with FieldTemp accessories such as a radiation shield sensor, allowing air and subsurface temperatures to be logged together in the same system.
Deployment Accessories
Accessories like desiccant packs, mounting plates, tools, solar panels, and more help you get a complete system ready and ensure you have everything you need for a fast and painless field deployment.
Build it Yourself, or Let Us Configure It
FieldTemp is designed to be flexible before, during, and after deployment. That flexibility includes how you purchase the system.
If you want help planning a complete deployment, we can recommend a logger, strings, cable lengths, splitters, power configuration, and accessories for your site. If you already know what you need, you can shop stocked FieldTemp components directly and build from there.
Want Help?
Tell us about your deployment depth, sensor spacing, number of strings, power needs, and field conditions. We will help configure a FieldTemp system around your research plan.
Want to Build it Yourself?
Shop FieldTemp loggers, digital temperature strings, cables, splitters, air temperature accessories, and replacement components directly from our store.
FieldTemp in Research Deployments
FieldTemp was developed through conversations with scientists, engineers, and field researchers who needed a more adaptable way to collect temperature profiles in difficult environments.
The system is already in use by university researchers working in cryosphere and permafrost applications, including deployments connected with the Juneau Icefield Research Program, the University of Portland, and the University of Maine.
Technical Specifications and Resources
FieldTemp is built around digital temperature sensors, rugged field hardware, and a simple data workflow that researchers can inspect, understand, and use without proprietary software.
Key Specifications
- Up to 12 sensor strings per logger
- Up to 128 digital temperature sensors per string
- Temperature sensor accuracy: ±0.2 °C over typical near-surface environmental research temperatures
- Temperature resolution: 0.0078125 °C
- Sensors ice-bath checked for practical zero-point calibration
- Local browser-based configuration from a phone or laptop
- Data stored to microSD card in a simple text format
- Logging intervals from 1 minute to 24 hours
- Average current draw of approximately 1 mA or less at 12 V, depending on configuration and logging interval
- Internal battery or external 12 V power options
- Optional telemetry port for future or custom data transmission needs
Resources
- FieldTemp manual: coming soon
- Quick start guide: coming soon
- Example data file: coming soon
- Calibration notes: coming soon
- Sensor string assembly guide: coming soon
Ready to Build Your FieldTemp System?
Whether you need a complete temperature profiling system for a research deployment or individual parts for a system you already understand, FieldTemp is built to meet you where you are.
Tell us about your site, sensor spacing, deployment depth, power needs, and field conditions, or shop stocked FieldTemp components directly.
Not sure what you need? Start with a configuration request and we’ll help you choose the right sensors, cables, and accessories!