We address the problem of optimally placing sensor networks for convection-diffusion processes where the convective part is perturbed. The problem is formulated as an optimal control problem where the integral Riccati equation is a constraint and the design variables are sensor locations. The objective functional involves a term associated to the trace of the solution to the Riccati equation and a term given by a constrained optimization problem for the directional derivative of the previous quantity over a set of admissible perturbations. This paper addresses the existence of the derivative with respect to the convective part of the solution to the Riccati equation, the well-posedness of the optimization problem, and finalizes with a range of numerical tests.