Formed in 1999 by ProtoDel International Ltd and supported from the European Union Growth Programme, FOS_EN continues to expand and attract new members. Currently with over 70 members throughout the EU and representatives from Switzerland, FOS_EN’s core of expertise encompasses all of the key technological areas relevant to optical fiber sensing.

FOS_EN has been structured around the three core themes:

- Safety, Integrity and Maintenance (SIM)

- Medical and Environmental Sensors (MES)

- Sensors for Process Control (SPC)

 

Through regular technical discussions, theme meetings and group discussions on the FOS_EN interactive Website, FOS_EN provides a forum which:

- Encourages practical collaboration between technologists and researchers to produce innovative and competitive sensor products

- Promotes co-operation between users, technologists and manufacturers increasing the pull through of enabling measurement technology into commercial application

- Enables companies with complementary skills to co-operate to produce competitive and higher specification products

- Gives manufacturers direct access to state of the art technology and ideas

- Acts as a focal point for end-users to access technology relevant to their own requirements.

Environmental surveillance with optical instrumentation entails two types of measurements, remote and on-site. On-site measurements mainly involve sampling of elements and subsequent analysis via variour types of spectrophotometers. Fiber optic sensors (FOS) offer several advantages over conventional instrumentation for on-site measurements:

- On-line, real-time, localised measurements are possible

- Sensor miniaturisation

- Materials used in fiber construction aloow FOS to be permanently positioned in hard-to-access-areas, including underground sites

- The electro-optic power supply and control units can be located remotely from the measuring area.

The poster will show the fiber optic instrumentation, relative to environmental monitoring, which has been implemented by the research groups and by companies belonging to FOS_EN.