An instrumentation system for smart monitoring of surface temperature

Reliable sensing is a crucial factor for assessing the structural health conditions of civil infrastructure such as sewerage networks, which are susceptible to hydrogen sulfide induced concrete corrosion. In this context, this paper reports the work on the development and characterization of an instrumentation system using an infrared radiometer for monitoring surface temperature variations of the concrete through non-contact measurements. The surface temperature measurements are gathered by positioning the sensor at different distance and angles from the surface of interest. The effects of ambient lighting conditions during measurements are investigated. Furthermore, the sensing performance of the sensor is evaluated by performing statistical error analysis, and the efficacy of a custom-made signal processing board is tested by comparing the electrical signal with reference measures.