Distributed Temperature Sensing: Review of Technology and Applications

Distributed temperature sensors (DTS) measure temperatures by means of optical fibers. Those optoelectronic devices provide a continuous profile of the temperature distribution along the cable. Initiated in the 1980s, DTS systems have undergone significant improvements in the technology and the application scenario over the last decades. The main measuring principles are based on detecting the back-scattering of light, e.g., detecting via Rayleigh, Raman, and Brillouin principles. The application domains span from traditional applications in the distributed temperature or strain sensing in the cables, to the latest “smart grid” initiative in the power systems, etc. In this paper, we present comparative reviews of the different DTS technologies, different applications, standard, and upcoming, different manufacturers.