Nationwide Heat Flow, Temperature Gradient, and Related Data - SMU Node of the NGDS
This dataset compiles heat flow and temperature gradient data from over 44,000 wells across the United States, along with more than 6,000 related geothermal exploration resources. Originally assembled prior to 2014 for the now-retired National Geothermal Data System (NGDS), the collection includes curated well data, scanned field notes, temperature-depth curves, publications, maps, and other supporting documents. SMU Geothermal Laboratory contributed two different nationwide heat flow databases to the project. One is based on equilibrium temperature measurements (over 14,000 sites) and the other is based on corrected bottom hole temperature (BHT) data from oil and gas industry wells (over 30,000 sites). In addition, scanned field notes and temperature-depth curves were associated with approximately 6,000 specific sites in the heat flow database. Records were corrected and overlapping sites in the equilibrium heat flow database were linked between the original SMU National database and the UND Global Heat Flow database. New or related sites, which were not previously published because they lacked full heat flow content, are now included as gradient only information along with their detailed temperature data to fill in data gaps. Finally, SMU submitted over 920 scanned publications, reports, and maps suitable for full text searching. The dataset is provided in two flat-structured zip archives: one containing the curated well data and another containing related resources. An Excel index file is provided for each archive, allowing filtering by well name, location, and description. Data files are labeled with state or institutional origin where available.
Citation Formats
TY - DATA
AB - This dataset compiles heat flow and temperature gradient data from over 44,000 wells across the United States, along with more than 6,000 related geothermal exploration resources. Originally assembled prior to 2014 for the now-retired National Geothermal Data System (NGDS), the collection includes curated well data, scanned field notes, temperature-depth curves, publications, maps, and other supporting documents. SMU Geothermal Laboratory contributed two different nationwide heat flow databases to the project. One is based on equilibrium temperature measurements (over 14,000 sites) and the other is based on corrected bottom hole temperature (BHT) data from oil and gas industry wells (over 30,000 sites). In addition, scanned field notes and temperature-depth curves were associated with approximately 6,000 specific sites in the heat flow database. Records were corrected and overlapping sites in the equilibrium heat flow database were linked between the original SMU National database and the UND Global Heat Flow database. New or related sites, which were not previously published because they lacked full heat flow content, are now included as gradient only information along with their detailed temperature data to fill in data gaps. Finally, SMU submitted over 920 scanned publications, reports, and maps suitable for full text searching. The dataset is provided in two flat-structured zip archives: one containing the curated well data and another containing related resources. An Excel index file is provided for each archive, allowing filtering by well name, location, and description. Data files are labeled with state or institutional origin where available.
AU - Richards, Maria
A2 - Chickering Pace, Cathy
A3 - Blackwell, David
DB - Geothermal Data Repository
DP - Open EI | National Laboratory of the Rockies
DO -
KW - geothermal
KW - energy
KW - heat flow
KW - temperature gradient
KW - BHT
KW - well data
KW - NGDS
KW - geothermal exploration
KW - thermal conductivity
KW - radiogenic heat
KW - oil and gas wells
KW - geothermal wells
KW - subsurface data
KW - geological data
KW - processed data
KW - technical reports
KW - publications
KW - geothermal mapping
KW - NGDS-SMU
KW - SMU node
LA - English
DA - 2014/03/01
PY - 2014
PB - Southern Methodist University
T1 - Nationwide Heat Flow, Temperature Gradient, and Related Data - SMU Node of the NGDS
UR - https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1704
ER -
Richards, Maria, et al. Nationwide Heat Flow, Temperature Gradient, and Related Data - SMU Node of the NGDS. Southern Methodist University , 1 March, 2014, Geothermal Data Repository. https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1704.
Richards, M., Chickering Pace, C., & Blackwell, D. (2014). Nationwide Heat Flow, Temperature Gradient, and Related Data - SMU Node of the NGDS. [Data set]. Geothermal Data Repository. Southern Methodist University . https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1704
Richards, Maria, Cathy Chickering Pace, and David Blackwell. Nationwide Heat Flow, Temperature Gradient, and Related Data - SMU Node of the NGDS. Southern Methodist University , March, 1, 2014. Distributed by Geothermal Data Repository. https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1704
@misc{GDR_Dataset_1704,
title = {Nationwide Heat Flow, Temperature Gradient, and Related Data - SMU Node of the NGDS},
author = {Richards, Maria and Chickering Pace, Cathy and Blackwell, David},
abstractNote = {This dataset compiles heat flow and temperature gradient data from over 44,000 wells across the United States, along with more than 6,000 related geothermal exploration resources. Originally assembled prior to 2014 for the now-retired National Geothermal Data System (NGDS), the collection includes curated well data, scanned field notes, temperature-depth curves, publications, maps, and other supporting documents. SMU Geothermal Laboratory contributed two different nationwide heat flow databases to the project. One is based on equilibrium temperature measurements (over 14,000 sites) and the other is based on corrected bottom hole temperature (BHT) data from oil and gas industry wells (over 30,000 sites). In addition, scanned field notes and temperature-depth curves were associated with approximately 6,000 specific sites in the heat flow database. Records were corrected and overlapping sites in the equilibrium heat flow database were linked between the original SMU National database and the UND Global Heat Flow database. New or related sites, which were not previously published because they lacked full heat flow content, are now included as gradient only information along with their detailed temperature data to fill in data gaps. Finally, SMU submitted over 920 scanned publications, reports, and maps suitable for full text searching. The dataset is provided in two flat-structured zip archives: one containing the curated well data and another containing related resources. An Excel index file is provided for each archive, allowing filtering by well name, location, and description. Data files are labeled with state or institutional origin where available.},
url = {https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1704},
year = {2014},
howpublished = {Geothermal Data Repository, Southern Methodist University , https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1704},
note = {Accessed: 2026-03-05}
}
Details
Data from Mar 1, 2014
Last updated Dec 8, 2025
Submitted Oct 27, 2025
Organization
Southern Methodist University
Contact
Maria Richards
Authors
Keywords
geothermal, energy, heat flow, temperature gradient, BHT, well data, NGDS, geothermal exploration, thermal conductivity, radiogenic heat, oil and gas wells, geothermal wells, subsurface data, geological data, processed data, technical reports, publications, geothermal mapping, NGDS-SMU, SMU nodeDOE Project Details
Project Name American Recovery and Reinvestment Award: Geothermal Data Aggregation
Project Lead Arlene Anderson
Project Number EE0002852

