Rayleigh-Based Optical Reflectometry Techniques for Distributed Sensing Applications

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the operation principles, sensing mechanisms, challenges and application areas of the optical reflectometry techniques exploiting Rayleigh scattering phenomenon, considering both time- and frequency-domain schemes. Among various distributed optical fiber sensor (DOFS) systems interrogated by optical reflectometry techniques, a special emphasis was given, in this paper to distributed acoustic sensor (DAS) interrogation methods. Recent progresses obtained through our research collaborations are also presented.