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 an additional constrained optimization problem subject to a set of admissible perturbations. We address the sensitivity of the Riccati equation, well-posedness of the overall optimization problem, and provide a range of numerical tests.