Uncertainty analysis for a high-spatial resolution single-mode fiber-optic distributed temperature sensor

Published

November 17, 2011

Author(s)

Shellee D. Dyer, Michael Tanner, Burm Baek, Robert Hadfield, Sae Woo Nam

Abstract

We demonstrate a high-accuracy distributed fiber optic temperature sensor using superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors and single photon counting techniques. Our demonstration uses inexpensive single-mode fiber at standard telecommunications wavelengths as the sensing fiber, which enables extremely low-loss experiments and compatibility with existing fiber networks. We show that the uncertainty of the temperature measurement decreases with longer integration periods, and that temperature uncertainty on the order of 3 K is possible with integration period as small as 60 seconds. Also, we show that the measurement exhibits unwanted polarization sensitivity, which can be reduced with a polarization diversity receiver.

Citation

Optics Express

Volume

10

Issue

99

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

Low light level detectors, Fiber optics sensors, Optical time domain reflectometry, Raman effect

Citation

Dyer, S. , Tanner, M. , Baek, B. , Hadfield, R. and Nam, S. (2011), Uncertainty analysis for a high-spatial resolution single-mode fiber-optic distributed temperature sensor, Optics Express, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=910008 (Accessed October 18, 2025)