Distributed optical fiber sensors for the soil temperature measurement in river embankments

In this work, we present the application of optical fiber sensors to monitor and characterize the soil temperature of river embankments. The soil temperature represents an indicator of possible seepage flows that may hamper the stability of the structure and can be used to characterize the hydraulic behavior of the embankment. Optical fiber sensors represent, to date, the only viable technology capable of measuring the temperature with the required spatial resolution in this kind of application.