Fiber Optic Measurements of Soil Moisture in a Waste Rock Pile

The design and construction of a waste rock pile influences water infiltration may promote the production contaminated mine drainage. objective this project is to evaluate use an active fiber optic distributed temperature sensing (aFO-DTS) protocol measure soil moisture within flow control layer capping experimental pile. Five hundred meters cable were installed in that 70 m long, 10 wide, was covered with 0.60 fine compacted sand 0.25 non-reactive crushed rock. Volumetric content assessed by heating 15-min heat pulses at 15 W/m every 30 min. To test aFO-DTS system 14 mm recharge applied top surface over 4 h, simulating major rain event. average volumetric FCL increased from 0.10 0.24 duration test. measured ±0.06 ±0.03, respectively, compared values using 96 dielectric probes same time period. Additional results illustrate how can be confined monitored through serving as practical means industrial capacity.