Tile Probe
Definition
A solid steel rod used to probe suspect ground by hand pressure, detecting resistance changes in disturbed soil and releasing sub-surface gases to the surface for canine follow-up.
- Form
- Solid steel rod pushed by hand
- Detects
- Resistance changes in disturbed ground
- Secondary effect
- Releases sub-surface gases to the surface
- Used with
- Cadaver-detection canine follow-up
Common questions
Why probe the ground before bringing in a cadaver dog?+
Probing pinpoints areas of disturbed soil that push more easily and vents any trapped decomposition gas to the surface, giving the dog a concentrated scent source to work rather than requiring it to detect gas diffusing through undisturbed ground.
What limits how deep or reliable a tile probe search is?+
A hand probe is only practical to a modest depth and can miss burials in very compacted, rocky or frozen ground where resistance differences between disturbed and undisturbed soil are small or absent.
Related terms
- HRD Dog
- Human Remains Detection dog: a dog trained to detect and alert on the volatile organic compound signature of decomposing human tissue. Also...
- Passive Alert
- A trained response in which the dog sits, lies down, or freezes at the scent source without digging or pawing. Preferred in...
- Scent Cone
- The plume of airborne VOC molecules that diffuses upward and downwind from a buried source. A dog working downwind of a buried...
- Search Pattern
- The systematic geometric route walked by a dog handler to ensure uniform coverage of the search area. Standard patterns include the ladder...
- VOC (Volatile Organic Compound)
- Carbon-containing compounds that evaporate readily at ambient temperatures. Decomposing human tissue produces a complex, changing VOC mixture that HRD dogs are trained...