# Adaptive Filtering Method for Dynamic BOTDA Sensing Based on a Closed-Circuit Configuration

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a real-time adaptive filtering system for dynamic BOTDA sensing that improves noise suppression without needing detailed environmental knowledge.

## Contribution

The novel contribution is a dynamic filtering system that adapts in real time using only noise characteristics for improved performance in BOTDA.

## Key findings

- The adaptive noise filter achieves dynamic response comparable to P and PI controllers in CC-BOTDA.
- Noise suppression is increased by 30% to over 100% using the proposed method.
- The system does not require prior knowledge of the environment beyond noise characteristics.

## Abstract

A dynamic filtering system that can choose in real time between two different noise filters depending on the dynamics of the measured environment is presented. Unlike other adaptive filters approaches, this system does not require prior knowledge of the environment beyond noise characteristics. We implemented this system into a Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA) sensing scheme using a closed-circuit control system for dynamic tracking of the Brillouin Frequency Shift (BFS) along the sensing fiber using a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller. Through experiments and numerical simulations, we compare this method to the filtering capabilities of P and PI controllers chosen as optimal in a previous work for closed-circuit BOTDA (CC-BOTDA). Results show that the adaptive noise filter provides a dynamic response comparable to the other controllers, while increasing noise suppression by a factor between 30% and beyond 100%, showing how an adaptive system can improve suppression with only knowledge of the measurement noise.