LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Earth Thermal Systems Lab
Machine-translated · View original
The lab reads the flows of heat and water underground in order to make use of geothermal energy.
AboutAbout the lab
Tracing the flows of heat and water inside the Earth.
The Earth Thermal Systems Lab conducts broad research, from fundamentals to applications, aimed at developing and using geothermal energy, an environmentally friendly natural energy source that is entirely domestic.
Geothermal energy takes many forms, from the heat of high-temperature volcanoes deep underground to ambient-temperature ground-source heat near the surface.
The lab regards these as a single system made up of a "heat source," "fluids," and "subsurface structure" (the Earth thermal system), and pursues its research with the keywords "flows of heat and water inside the Earth."
The results are used not only for natural energy utilization and solving environmental problems but also for disaster prevention, such as monitoring volcanic and seismic activity.
Key terms
- Geothermal energy
- Energy obtained by extracting heat stored underground. It ranges from the heat of volcanoes to the heat of the shallow ground
- Ground-source heat
- Heat found at shallow depth underground whose temperature stays almost constant throughout the year. It can be used for heating and cooling, among other purposes
- Hydrothermal system
- The whole mechanism by which water heated underground flows through and accumulates in rock fractures and similar pathways
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
With the keywords "flows of heat and water inside the Earth," the lab studies subjects ranging from volcanoes, geothermal energy, hot springs, active faults, and earthquakes to Antarctica. Its main study fields are high-temperature geothermal systems such as Kuju Volcano and Hatchobaru, medium- to low-temperature hydrothermal systems such as the Kirishima and Beppu hot springs and non-volcanic hot springs in Fukuoka Prefecture, and ground-source heat.
*Illustrative imageDeep thermal structure of Kuju Volcano
Aiming at the use of volcanic thermal energy and at disaster prevention, the lab continues comprehensive research on Kuju Volcano. Field observations and numerical simulation have revealed the thermal structure of the shallow part fairly well, so the lab now aims to clarify the deeper parts.
*Illustrative imageMonitoring subsurface fluids with gravity
To use geothermal fluids and groundwater stably over the long term, it is necessary to accurately grasp changes in subsurface flow caused by extraction and reinjection. The lab builds numerical models of subsurface fluid flow from ground-based and satellite gravity measurements and from ground deformation measured by GPS.
*Illustrative imageUnraveling regional-scale hydrothermal systems
Geothermal areas in Japan lie close to hot spring areas, and development that coexists with hot springs requires knowledge of the subsurface structure and the upwelling mechanism of each hot spring. By combining subsurface structure surveys with past data, the lab quantitatively models the flows of heat and water over a wide area.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Earth Thermal Systems Lab consist of faculty, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and research students.As of 2026
- ProfessorYasuhiro Fujimitsu
- Associate ProfessorJun Nishijima
- Associate ProfessorMitsuo Matsumoto
VoicesStudent voices
Compiled from answers by students who were in the lab. Ratings and reviews reflect individual students' experiences, not the lab's official views.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
On a 4-point scale, ● marks where students' answers fall
Who is this lab for?
What's great about this lab?
What did you learn after joining?
What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
Where do graduates go?
RelatedLabs similar to Earth Thermal Systems Lab
Exploration Geophysics LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Resources EngineeringExploration geophysics: techniques for imaging the subsurfac…
Energy Resources Engineering LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Resources EngineeringEnergy resources engineering covering exploration and sustai…
Rock Mass Engineering and Mining Machinery Systems LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Resources EngineeringThe Rock Mechanics and Mining Machinery Engineering Laborato…
Applied Geology LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Resources EngineeringThe Applied Geology Laboratory conducts practical, internati…The information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Krafla power plant - Kröflustöð” Villy Fink Isaksen / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Deep thermal structure of Kuju Volcano: “Poas volcano 03” MongeNajera / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Monitoring subsurface fluids with gravity: “Soviet gravimeter GNU-KS” VickRomanoff / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Unraveling regional-scale hydrothermal systems: “Travertine terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs ( )” Yellowstone National Park / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (物理探査学研究室): “Alessio-gusmeroli-uaf-conducts-geophysical-survey-of-patterned-ground-on-the-north-slope-of-alaska o ( )” Oak Ridge National Laboratory / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (エネルギー資源工学研究室): “MARUM Schwarzer Raucher” MARUM − Zentrum für Marine Umweltwissenschaften, Universität Bremen / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (岩盤・開発機械システム工学研究室): “Boron mine pit” Marcin Wichary / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (応用地質学研究室): “Quartz-gold hydrothermal vein rock (Neoarchean, 2.67 Ga; Hollinger Mine, Timmins, Ontario, Canada) 3” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.