Considerations for advanced temperature monitoring of underground power cables

Temperature monitoring using fiber optic sensors to get a distributed temperature profile along an underground cable circuit is increasingly being used by utilities. However, effectively applying this technology presents some challenges. This paper summarizes those challenges associated both with instrumentation and implementation in a utility setting, and offers practical considerations for equipment characteristics, fiber placement, telemetry of measurement data, security within a utility setting, and interpretation of results in an effort to give the reader a more practical understanding of this technology.