Abstract

Many industrial processes or other phenomena of interest cannot be measured with conventional instruments because they are too hot, too cold, highly radioactive, or otherwise inaccessible to direct observation. Nuclear wastes stored in underground repositories, for example, will require in-situ monitoring. A new technology that uses long-distance fiber optics to transmit laser-excited fluorescence now makes it possible to remotely monitor such phenomena via optical cables at distances up to a kilometer.

© 1986 Optical Society of America