Enhancement of localization accuracy based on research of conversion
coefficient in coherent Φ-OTDR
Abstract
Recently, a distributed fiber optic sensor named phase optical time
domain reflectometer or phase-sensitive optical time domain
reflectometer (Φ-OTDR) has been used in the localization and monitoring
of earthquake waves, underwater facilities, etc. Precision in the
localization of external perturbations on the fiber is crucial for
effective problem resolution. The conversion coefficient between the
extracted phase signal detected by Φ-OTDR and the corresponding
perturbation signal acting on the fiber significantly impacts
localization accuracy. Therefore, the characteristic of parameters
relative to the conversion coefficient in Φ-OTDR should be deeply
researched. Then, based on the established mathematical model of
coherent Φ-OTDR, modulus, statistical phase, phase change, and peak
difference of coherent Φ-OTDR with and without the static region is
analyzed, respectively. The analysis reveals that when coherent φ-OTDR
has perturbations homogeneously distributed along the fiber, there is no
static region on the phase change-fiber length plane. At this point,
although the waveform like the information of external perturbation
still can be found in the retrieved phase change in the direction of
pulse sequence, the phase change does not have a strictly linear
relationship along the fiber. It is different from what was expected in
coherent Φ-OTDR having the static region, which means that coherent
Φ-OTDR must have the static region if a higher localization accuracy is
needed. A localization case demonstrates that the proposed method with
the designed static region enhances localization resolution by 210%
compared to the traditional coherent φ-OTDR without the static region.
These findings underscore the importance of the conversion coefficient
and the relevance of the static region in Φ-OTDR for achieving accurate
and effective localization.