Between June and August 2025, the setting up of the outdoor laboratories took place in the Municipality of Murska Sobota and the Municipality of Moravske Toplice. The project involved the drilling of 14 new shallow boreholes between 12 and 17 metres deep. The boreholes will primarily be used for research on heat transfer processes and the determination of thermal dispersion on a natural scale.

Research focuses on hydrogeological conditions and thermal properties of the subsurface, which can be easily measured, while information on thermal dispersion at the site is still limited. Thermal dispersion is a process in which heat is transferred by advection - due to the different flow paths of water in porous media - and by conduction through solid particles. In nature, it can be determined by experimental methods using heat as a tracer.

New scientific research on the impact of thermal dispersion on heat transfer in the subsurface will contribute to the optimal use of shallow geothermal potential and to preventing possible future interactions between new shallow geothermal systems.

The research is funded by the postdoctoral project Z1-60171 TopDISPERZ (ARIS), the targeted research project V1-24006 GeoterMORS (ARIS, MORS) and the programme group P1-0020 Groundwater and Geochemistry (ARIS). More information on the results of the project will be available in the future. here.