Method of monitoring a surface condition of a component

A system comprising:

• a component;
• a thermal control system configured to provide thermal energy to the component;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• determine a thermal response of the component in response to providing the thermal energy, wherein the thermal response is a rate of dissipation of the thermal energy by the component;
• determine a thermal characteristic of the component based on a difference between a reference thermal response and the thermal response, wherein the reference thermal response is a reference rate of dissipation of the thermal energy of the component in response to providing the thermal energy;
• and
• predict an amount of material buildup on a surface of the component based on the thermal characteristic and a predictive analytic model, wherein the predictive analytic model correlates the thermal characteristics of the component to an estimated surface condition of the component.