A monitoring system and method for monitoring a predetermined set of physical
characteristics
associated with a structure using the monitoring system. The system is distributed
in the structure and comprises a distributed optical sensing device (30),
further comprising a fiber optic cable (20, 22); a light source (18a)
operatively in communication with the fiber optic cable (20, 22); a light
detection device (18b), operatively in communication with the fiber
optic cable (20, 22), for measuring the light received at the light detection
device (18b) from the fiber optic cable (20, 22); and a data
processor (18) capable of using the light measured to calculate a predetermined
set of physical parameters describing the predetermined set of physical characteristics.
