Performance analysis of distributed optical fiber acoustic sensors based on φ-OTDR.

The performance of distributed optical fiber acoustic sensor as a function of parameters such as the linewidth of the laser, the probe pulse width, and the amplitude and frequency of perturbation is experimentally studied. The aim of this study is to experimentally confirm the outcome of the simulation results obtained previously. It is shown that the experimental and simulation results are in good agreement, and the precision of the sensing system depends on the pulse width and linewidth of the probe pulse, as well as the frequency and amplitude of the perturbation. It is shown that the sensing precision of the system can be enhanced by reducing the width of the probe pulse while increasing the linewidth of the laser.