Simulation of Noise Within BOTDA and Cotdr Systems to Study the Impact on Dynamic Sensing

Real-time structural health monitoring requires dynamic sensing of distributed strain and temperature. Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis (BOTDA) and Rayleigh Coherent Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (COTDR) are promising candidates to achieve dynamic sensing. A noise model with specific parametric simulation of independent laser and detector noise sources has been developed. Although ensemble averaging significantly enhances the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in both systems, its time-consuming accumulation procedure prevents dynamic sensing. The sequence of averaging in the signal processing workflow varies the SNR for both systems. The system components should be optimized to reduce averaging times and achieve the required system specifications, including dynamic sensing.