Model of a fibreoptic phase-sensitive reflectometer and its comparison with the experiment

A statistical model describing the Rayleigh-scattering reflectograms of narrowband Gaussian pulses in optical fibres is constructed taking into account linear (the finite spectral linewidth because of frequency fluctuations, finite frequency band of the photodetector) and nonlinear (modulation instability) effects influencing the reflectograms' visibility. The model is compared with the experiment, demonstrating the adequacy of the theoretical description. The possibilities of obtaining optimal parameters, important for practical applications of the phase-sensitive reflectometer as a distributed fibreoptic intrusion sensor are discussed.