Seepage Monitoring in Dams and Dykes
Internal erosion, one of the major causes of failure in dams and dykes, results in an increased seepage flow due to loss of fines. A seepage measuring system is therefore a vital part of dams and dykes monitoring system. However, many existing seepage monitoring systems are not sensitive enough to detect small changes in the seepage flow. Distributed temperature measurement is able to detect effects caused by time dependent processes such as internal erosion, and has been proven an effective method for seepage monitoring in dams and dykes.

Underground storage facilities
Caverns and aquifers are widely used for underground storage of gas and mineral oil products. In most cases the underground installations are not accessible and the operating pressure and temperature are critical parameters that require constant monitoring to assure the integrity of the structure.

Underground storage facilities are costly to construct and to operate, and the materials they contain are potentially explosive and ecologically harmful if all owed to escape in the atmosphere. Consequently, there is an essential need for monitoring and surveying both the operation of the underground storage facility and the conditions of the underground installations to protect the owner’s investment and to assure the safety and reliability of the operation. Thanks to its unique characteristics, fibre optic temperature measurements provides the ideal solution for that application.

Other applications were fibre optic distributed temperature measurement are being deployed successfully are:

• Monitoring of waste disposal sites
• Geostructures
• Mining landscapes
• Geothermic Applications

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