165544 20260112132215.0 doi 10.3390/app16010465 sideral 147172 ART-2026-147172 eng Antolín-Cañada, Diego (orcid)0000-0003-4404-776X Development of a Leak Detection System Based on Fiber Optic DTS Monitoring and Validation on a Full-Scale Model 2026 Leaks in ponds are a problem due to the loss of water resources, although the problem is greater when the ponds store livestock or agricultural waste (slurry or wastewater), in which case there is a risk of hydrogeological contamination of the environment. The proposed leak detection system is based on distributed temperature sensing (DTS) with hybrid fiber optics using the Raman effect. Using active detection techniques, i.e., applying a specific amount of electrical power to the copper wires that form part of the hybrid cable, it is possible to increase the temperature along the fiber and measure the thermal increments along it, detecting and locating the point of leakage. To validate the system, a full-scale prototype reservoir (25 m × 10 m × 3.5 m) was built, equipped with mechanisms to simulate leaks under the impermeable sheet that retains the reservoir’s contents. For environmental reasons, the tests were carried out with clean water. The results of the leak simulation showed significant differences in temperature increases due to the electrical pulse in the areas affected by the simulated leak (1 °C increase) and the areas not affected (5 °C increase). This technology, which uses hybrid fiber optics and a low-cost sensor, can be applied not only to ponds, but also to other types of infrastructure that store or retain liquids, such as dams, where it has already been tested, to measure groundwater flow, etc. Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/AEI-010500-2022b-320 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion López-Julián, Pedro Luis Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-5585-2126 Pérez, Javier (orcid)0000-0002-3970-7295 Muñoz, Óscar Acero-Oliete, Alejandro (orcid)0000-0003-2591-1540 Russo, Beniamino 2000 427 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Ciencias de la Tierra Área Geodinámica Externa 16, 465 (2026), 21 Appl. sci. Applied Sciences (Switzerland) 2076-3417 4596463 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/165544/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2266809 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/165544/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:165544 articulos driver 2026-01-12-11:09:47 ARTICLE