In the summer of 2023, while a team from the HydroGeophysics Group at the Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, was performing a tTEM groundwater survey near the Dolo refugee camp in Ethiopia, the area suddenly received unexpected heavy rainfall.

Rain is a rare sight in the Horn of Africa region, and the researchers found themselves with mixed emotions when rain flooded all the roads, leaving the quad-bike towed tTEM system out of action. Left to walking and taking stationary measurements with the sTEM, the idea of a walkable tTEM version quickly became an obvious solution to the problem.

Fast-forward to the Kedougou region of Senegal in February 2024, and Denys and Paul from the HydroGeophysics Group tested a prototype instrument, the sTEMprofiler, developed by TEMcompany. The sTEMprofiler is a walkable sTEM system with a geometry similar to the tTEM system. The system can access rough-terrain and bushy areas and still keep a high production of more than 30 to 40 soundings per day. The first results from the work in Senegal look very promising.

The sTEMprofiler was made available to the team at Aarhus University by TEMcompany for use in the Geoscientists without Borders project.