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Cover of Use Cases for Fibre Optic Sensing Technology in Roads and Transport
Use Cases for Fibre Optic Sensing Technology in Roads and Transport
  • Publication no: AP-R761-26
  • ISBN: 978-1-923617-47-6
  • Published: 17 April 2026

This report explores the use of fibre optic sensing technology for road and transport applications.

A literature review (including a market analysis) assessed the maturity and deployment guidance for a range of fibre optic sensing use cases. Stakeholder consultation validated Australian and New Zealand road agencies’ previous and current usage of fibre optic sensing technology, identifying key learnings from trials and projects.

This report provides a summary of the distinct types of fibre optic sensing technologies and associated Australian, New Zealand and international case studies.

Fibre optic sensing technology's technical, delivery, deployment, operations and support considerations are presented in section 3.

The report concludes with recommendations for prioritised fibre optic technology use cases and actions to enable road agency adoption and use.

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  • Summary
  • 1. Introduction
    • 1.1 Purpose
    • 1.2 Scope
    • 1.3 Methodology
      • 1.3.1 Literature review
      • 1.3.2 Jurisdictional transport agency stakeholder engagement
      • 1.3.3 Fibre optic technology market engagement
      • 1.3.4 Analysis of operational data
      • 1.3.5 Deployment guidance
    • 1.4 Glossary
  • 2. Research
    • 2.1 Approach
    • 2.2 Optic fibre sensing technologies
      • 2.2.1 Distributed acoustic sensing
      • 2.2.2 Distributed temperature sensing
      • 2.2.3 Strain fibre sensing
    • 2.3 Case studies of fibre optic sensing technology use in Australia and New Zealand
      • 2.3.1 Traffic monitoring
      • 2.3.2 Anomaly detection
      • 2.3.3 Security
      • 2.3.4 Asset condition monitoring
    • 2.4 Global fibre optic sensing technology developments
      • 2.4.1 Global context and market trends
    • 2.5 Global case studies of fibre optic sensing technology use
      • 2.5.1 Traffic monitoring
      • 2.5.2 Anomaly detection
      • 2.5.3 Security
      • 2.5.4 Asset condition monitoring
    • 2.6 Key research findings, recommendations and conclusions
      • 2.6.1 Road transport use case key findings
      • 2.6.2 Market analysis key findings
      • 2.6.3 Key findings from data analysis
  • 3. Deployment Guidance
    • 3.1 Fibre optic sensing system reference architecture
      • 3.1.1 Fibre optic sensing technology use case elaboration
    • 3.2 Distributed acoustic sensing deployment guidance
      • 3.2.1 DAS conceptual architecture
      • 3.2.2 DAS technical guidelines
      • 3.2.3 DAS delivery and deployment guidelines
      • 3.2.4 Operations and support guidelines
    • 3.3 Distributed temperature sensing deployment guidance
      • 3.3.1 DTS reference architecture
      • 3.3.2 DTS technical guidelines
      • 3.3.3 Delivery and deployment guidelines
      • 3.3.4 Operations and support guidelines
    • 3.4 Strain fibre sensing deployment guidance
      • 3.4.1 SFS reference architecture
      • 3.4.2 SFS technical guidelines
      • 3.4.3 Delivery and deployment guidelines
      • 3.4.4 Operations and support guidelines
    • 3.5 Fibre sensing system data management guidance
      • 3.5.1 FSS implementation data management
      • 3.5.2 FSS integration and interface management considerations
  • 4. Conclusions and Recommendations
    • 4.1 Fibre optic sensing technology use case conclusions
    • 4.2 Next steps and recommendations
  • References
  • Appendix A DAS Data Analysis Findings
    • A.1 Data analysis overview
    • A.2 Data analysis methodology
      • A.2.1 Collected DAS raw and output data overview
      • A.2.2 Raw data analysis
      • A.2.3 DAS integration and interface architecture analysis
      • A.2.4 Data characteristic analysis – waterfall (histogram)
      • A.2.5 Data characteristic analysis – georeferencing
      • A.2.6 Data characteristic analysis – measures
    • A.3 Data analysis methodology
      • A.3.1 DAS reference data attribution
      • A.3.2 DAS processed data attribution
      • A.3.3 Continuous improvement
      • A.3.4 Offline data analytics
      • A.3.5 Specialised digital signal processing
  • Appendix B Vendor Consultation Summary
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