Improvements and applications of distributed optical fibre sensing

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The standard optical fibre used in communications systems can also be used for sensing temperature and strain over kilometer lengths of the fibre. By attaching the fibre to structures such as bridges or burying it along fences, with suitable instruments the changing strain on the bridge or a person walking near the fence can be detected. Thus a means to continuously monitor the health of a bridge is available which can prevent disaster. In a similar fashion the strain created on a buried fibre can be detected and reported as an intruder in a secure area. These are traditional applications of this emerging technology and in this proposed research we will develop new sensors and applications, improve the instrument performance, and significantly reduce the instrument cost which will enable much smaller applications.