Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Measurement
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/measurement

Review

Optical fibre-based sensor technology for humidity and

moisture measurement: Review of recent progress
L. Alwis ⇑, T. Sun, K.T.V. Grattan
School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences and City Graduate School, City University London, London EC1V 0HB, UK

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Humidity and moisture sensing is becoming increasingly important in industry and
Received 31 January 2013 through a wide spectrum of applications and a review of research activity in the field across
Received in revised form 19 July 2013 a range of technologies was presented previously by some of the authors. Recognizing the
Accepted 23 July 2013
major developments in the last few years, especially in the field of fibre optic humidity and
Available online 31 July 2013
moisture sensing, this paper aims to extend that approach to review and categorize recent
progress in the optical fibre field for the measurement of humidity and moisture and exam-
Keywords:
ine, as a result, the breadth of applications that now are being discussed.
Optical fibre sensor
Humidity
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Moisture

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
2. Humidity and moisture – definitions and terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
2.1. Humidity/moisture measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
2.2. Calibration of humidity/moisture for sensing applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3. Applications of humidity/moisture measurement in industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.1. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.2. Food process and storage applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.3. Medical applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.4. Ecological applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.5. Agricultural applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.6. Mineral processing applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.7. Fuel applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.8. Aerospace applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.9. Applications underpinning human comfort. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4. Fibre-optic techniques for humidity detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.1. Fibre grating sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.1.1. Fibre Bragg gratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.1.2. Long period gratings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.2. Evanescent wave sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.3. Interferometric sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.4. Hybrid sensors (grating + interferometric). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.5. Absorbance sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00

⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 2070403641.

E-mail address: lourdes.alwis@city.ac.uk (L. Alwis).

0263-2241/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2013.07.030
 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074 4053

5. Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00

1. Introduction wave sensors; interferometric sensors; Hybrid sensors

(fibre gratings + interferometric) and absorbance sensors.
The first moisture measurement scheme can be traced This follows a review where a number of key applications
as far as 179 BC when the Chinese made a humidity mea- of humidity and moisture measurement are highlighted,
surement system using a ‘‘balance type’’ approach: a hang- in areas such as Structural Health Monitoring (SHM); food
ing piece of wool, tied together on one end of a large pair processing and storage; medicine; ecology; agriculture;
of scales where the weight of the wool would increase mineral processing; fuel quality control; aerospace and
when air becomes more humid and decrease when the other applications supporting human comfort. The paper
air tends to dry [1]. Many centuries later, in 1550, the de- concludes with a tabular summary and overview of the
vice was improved by substituting a sponge for the wool field and feature a list of topical and accessible references
and various versions of the hygrometer, as it was known, to the key papers.
were developed subsequently, with the substitution of pa-
per, hair, nylon, and acetate. During the seventeenth and
2. Humidity and moisture – definitions and terminology
eighteenth centuries, there were several opinions about
how water dissolves in air and by 1790, an important prin-
The term moisture refers to the content of water in a
ciple was established – aqueous vapours have the proper-
liquid or solid due to absorption or adsorption, while the
ties of gases. It was also established that a relationship
term humidity is reserved for the content of water vapour
exists between humidity and temperature [2]. In 1803,
in gases. Absolute humidity refers to the density of water
L.W. Gilbert [1] claimed ‘‘The degree of humidity depends
vapour, i.e. the mass of water vapour per unit volume of
on the ratio of the vapour actually present to that which is
gas. Since this is the same measurement for atmospheric
possible.’’ Since then, the growth of both electronic and
pressure, the term absolute humidity is generally not used.
optical fibre fields has enabled the establishment of differ-
The most commonly used terminology for humidity mea-
ent types of humidity sensors and measurement tech-
surement are expressed in terms of Relative Humidity
niques. Today, the measurement of moisture and
(RH), Dew/Frost point (D/F PT) and parts per million
Relative Humidity (RH) is an important factor in various
(PPM) of moisture [38].
industries such as food process and storage [3–7], agricul-
RH is the ratio of the actual vapour pressure of air at a
ture [8–11], pharmaceutical [12–13], biomedical [14–18],
particular temperature, to the saturation vapour pressure
chemical [19–21], SHM [22–25], ecological [26,27], atmo-
at the same temperature and is given by,
spheric weather conditions monitoring [28–30] and vari-
ous others [31–36]. Pw
A previous paper by Yeo et al. [37], reviewed the broad RH ¼  100%
Pws
field of mechanical, electrical/electronic and optical fibre-
based RH sensors and since then the field of optical and where Pw is the partial pressure of water vapour, and Pws is
optical fibre-based sensor methods has seen major pro- saturated water vapour pressure at a given temperature.
gress and a number of new approaches and applications The value of RH expresses the vapour content as a percent-
have come to light. This paper aims to build on that work, age of the concentration required to cause the vapour sat-
having a focus, however, only in the optical field and to re- uration, that is, the formation of water droplets (dew) at
fer the interested reader to that previous paper for details that temperature. Since RH is a function of temperature,
of mechanical and electrical/electronic sensors, a field it is a relative measurement.
which has been relatively static since that paper was pub- The Dew Point is the temperature (above 0 °C) at which
lished. Several interesting examples of applications where water vapour in a gas condenses to liquid water. The Frost
humidity and moisture sensors are of significant impor-
tance are presented below, ranging from food storage
applications to seeking to find evidence of life on Mars,
as well as the new technological developments which have
permitted these.
This review is structured as follows. Following the gen-
eral Introduction and definitions, the paper reviews the
measurement of humidity/moisture and the calibration of
humidity/moisture for sensing applications and, further,
examines methods using fibre-optic techniques for humid-
ity detection. This will include fibre grating sensors (both Fig. 1. Correlation across the range of humidity units: Relative Humidity
Fibre Bragg Gratings (FBGs) and Long Period Gratings (RH), Dew/Frost point (D/F PT), and parts per million by volume fraction
(LPGs)) and also look at a range of approaches: evanescent (PPMv) [38].
4054 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074
Fig. 2. Some conventional hygrometers that are currently in use in industry [19].
Point is the temperature (below 0 °C) at which the vapour
condenses to ice. Dew/Frost Point is a function of atmo-
spheric pressure but is independent of temperature and
is therefore defined as absolute humidity measurement.
The use of the unit parts per million (PPM) represents
the water vapour content by volume fraction (PPMv) or,
if multiplied by the ratio of the molecular weight of water
to that of air, it is given as PPMw [38]. Fig. 1 shows the cor-
relation between the aforementioned units for humidity/
moisture measurement.
2.1. Humidity/moisture measurement
Humidity and moisture measurements can be made
by employing a range of methods that either probe the
fundamental properties of water vapour or use various
transduction methods that provide humidity-related
Fig. 3. Illustration of a small air-tight chamber containing Petri dishes
filled with salt solutions to achieve known levels of RH for sensor
calibration [106].
measurements. The long history of humidity sensing has
been highlighted in the introduction and over the years a
variety of schemes has been explored to obtain meaningful
and industrially-relevant humidity measurements. These
range from simple schemes involving the expansion and
contraction of materials such as human hair to much more
advanced techniques, such as using a miniaturised elec-
tronic chip or recently, the utilization of optical fibre tech-
nology. Some hygrometers that are in use widely are
illustrated in Fig. 2, (these techniques have been discussed
in some detail in the previous review by some of the
authors [37]). As discussed in this paper, the focus is
mainly on the methods and performance of RH and mois-
ture sensor utilizing the burgeoning technology that is
based on optics and especially optical fibres.
2.2. Calibration of humidity/moisture for sensing applications
The calibration of humidity sensors can be performed
by generating references to known and specific levels of
humidity in a controlled environment. To achieve this,
one of the techniques that is widely practised is the mixing
of dry (0% humidity) and steamed moist air (100% humid-
ity) in varying known proportions. Another widely used
method is the utilization of different salt solutions in a
closed chamber where salt with known saturating humid-
ity levels are mixed with water, placed in the enclosed
space (such as an air-tight box) and given time to saturate
to a particular (and known) humidity level. One such test
chamber made for the purpose of RH calibration in-situ is
shown in Fig. 3. The value of the RH generated depends
on the type of salt used and detailed investigation carried
out to work out the saturation RH of different salt solu-
tions, by Greenspan [39], is presented in Table 1. Recent
development in the field of RH calibration involves the
use of commercially-available environmental chambers
 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074 4055

Table 1
Humidity fixed points for a series of saturated salt solutions from [39].

Temperature Lithium Potassium Magnesium Potassium Magnesium Sodium Sodium Strontium Potassium
(°C) chloride acetate chloride carbonate nitrate bromide chloride chloride chloride
10 11.3 23.7 33.5 43.1 57.4 62.2 75.66 75.7 86.8
15 11.3 23.4 33.3 43.2 55.9 60.7 74.13 75.6 85.9
20 11.3 23.1 33.1 43.2 54.4 59.1 72.52 75.5 85.1
25 11.3 22.5 32.8 43.2 52.9 57.6 70.85 75.3 84.3
30 11.3 21.6 32.4 43.2 51.4 56.0 69.12 75.1 83.6
35 11.3 – 32.1 – 49.9 54.6 – 74.9 83.0
40 11.2 – 31.6 – 48.4 53.2 – 74.7 82.3
45 11.2 – 31.1 – 46.9 52.0 – 74.5 81.7
50 11.1 – 30.5 – 45.4 50.9 – 74.4 81.2
55 11.0 – 29.9 – – 50.2 – 74.4 80.7
60 11.0 – 29.3 – – 49.7 – 74.5 80.3
65 10.9 – 28.5 – – 49.5 – 74.7 79.9
70 10.8 – 27.8 – – 49.7 – 75.1 79.5
75 10.6 – 26.9 – – 50.3 – 75.6 79.2
80 10.5 – 26.1 – – 51.4 – 76.3 78.9

that can be configured to control both the RH and the tem-
perature and provide maximum flexibility as a result.
3. Applications of humidity/moisture measurement in
industry
Before considering the range of technologies by which
Relative Humidity (RH) and moisture levels can be made,
using advanced fibre optic techniques, it is important to
consider the wide range of applications where such mea-
surement is important. Below, several applications are
considered showing the breadth of industries where such
measurements are important, the need for clarity on issues
such as compatibility with use in extreme environments or
on human subjects and indeed the importance on making
such measurements in aerospace applications such as in
measurements on the Martian atmosphere. All this shows
the tremendous breadth that must be reflected effectively
in the system design, to achieve the required degree of rug-
gedness or biocompatibility, for example, and thus which
underpins the most effective selection of techniques for a
particular measurement in an individual circumstance.
3.1. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) applications
One of the most widely used areas where RH and mois-
ture sensors find application is for SHM purposes. Over the
past few decades, the deterioration of civil infrastructure,
such as buildings, bridges and roadways have demon-
strated the need for high-performance sensing systems
that can be used effectively to monitor changes in struc-
tures, often occurring over many years. This has led to a ra-
pid growth in interest in SHM systems, which has the
potential to allow for real time monitoring and preventa-
tive maintenance within civil infrastructure.
Steel reinforcement bars (‘rebars’) embedded in con-
crete are normally inherently protected against corrosion
by passivation of the steel surface due to the high alkalinity
of the concrete. With the rebars embedded into the con-
crete, this highly alkaline environment creates a very thin
but dense passivating oxide layer on the surface of the
rebar thus forming a protection barrier which reduces its
rate of corrosion to some insignificant extent [40]. One
mechanism that can trigger the corrosion process is the in-
gress of chloride ions into a reinforced concrete structure.
The presence of chlorides in the concrete most commonly
arises from the use of salt to melt ice and snow on roads
and bridges during the winter seasons, particularly in areas
that go through freezing temperature conditions [41]. As
illustrated in Fig. 4, salt reacts with water from ice to liber-
ate chloride ions which will eventually end up in cracks
and other traps formed in civil structures, due to various
environmental events such as earthquakes and winter
freeze-thaw cycles. After this process occurs and the
effects accumulate over some time, the passivating oxide
layer can break down due to the drop of pH surrounding
the protective layer as a result of the carbonation process,
the rebar starts to corrode causing a volumetric expansion
on the rebar. Consequently this expansion on the rebar in-
duces pressure on the concrete which results in internal
damage to the structure. If this is left to build up over time,
it would lead to crack formation, spalling and delamination
in the concrete that may eventually lead to structural fail-
ure. The ingress of chloride ions hugely depends on the
presence of moisture to dissolve and carry chemical spe-
cies into the porous concrete. The moisture level within a
Fig. 4. Chemical process of the chloride induced steel corrosion [43].
4056 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074
structure has a significant influence on the rate of carbon-
ation and corrosion, for example, the rate of carbonation in
concrete is observed to be the fastest between 60% and
80%RH and the rate of corrosion in reinforced concrete
with different concentration of chloride ions is influenced
by the internal RH level [42]. The corrosion in the rein-
forced steel bars affects the strength of the concrete struc-
ture in the long term. Thus, early detection of moisture (as
an important means by which chloride ions are delivered
into the structure) can save the reinforced concrete struc-
ture from severe damage resulting from a loss of structural
integrity and would allow appropriate action to be taken in
advance of major damage being caused and thus costs
saved.
3.2. Food process and storage applications
The loss of moisture due to transportation and storage
often limits the shelf life of fruit and vegetables. Fruits such
as bell peppers (capsicums), for example, are mostly placed
in cardboard boxes that are stored at a RH below 90% [3].
This results mainly in precocious desiccation of the peel,
shown as superficial shrivelling. Other products that dry
out too much during storage include pears, currants, and
avocado. Depending on the species and the storage condi-
tions, the environment can also be too humid. Incidence of
fungal diseases, such as Botrytis rot is common at such high
RH [44]. Therefore it is of interest to measure the moisture
content or the RH of these products during transportation
and storage. In considering food storage potential, the
measurement of RH is more important than the moisture
content, as it measures the availability of water to micro-
organisms and hence gives an indication of the biological
activity, or potential activity, of the product as moulds will
develop rapidly during storage above 75%RH [4]. The den-
sity, porosity and expansion of extruded food products are
found to be dependent on feed moisture content, residence
time and temperature, and water is an essential reaction
partner in gelatinization and plays one of the major roles
in controlling extrudate expansion ratio [5]. For example,
the degree of expansion of high moisture imitation cheese
during microwaving was shown to increase with increas-
ing pre-expansion storage time and this phenomenon
was related to an increase in water mobility in the un-
heated cheese during storage prior to microwaving [6]. It
is therefore necessary to have a measurement of the mois-
ture/RH content of the food processing and storing
environment.
3.3. Medical applications
The monitoring of breathing is important during certain
imaging and surgical procedures where the patient needs
to be sedated or anesthetized [45]. Breathing airflow mon-
itoring has been widely applied to predict and detect respi-
ratory disorders and failures, such as hypopnoea and
apnoea, which may eventually develop into a life-threaten-
ing condition [14]. Also, some serious illnesses can be diag-
nosed by detecting alterations in breathing rates or
abnormal respiratory rate [45]. Monitoring of breathing is
also important to study the progression of a diagnosed
illness or to evaluate the health of a person. Electronic
breathing sensors are not recommended when patients
are, for example, in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
system, or during any oncological treatment that requires
the administration of radiation or high electric/magnetic
fields since they can fail and also represent a burning haz-
ard to the patient [15]. In such cases, the utilization of opti-
cal fibre-based breathing sensors represents an important
alternative approach as breathing can be monitored by
placing the sensors close to the nose or mouth of the
patient.
Voice communication is the most familiar and com-
mon form of communication. Unfortunately, as a result
of hereditary or acquired impediment or due to other
reasons such as an accident, there are people with
speech/hearing impairment who find it difficult to con-
verse. Morisawa et al. [16] developed a language recogni-
tion system that focuses on the moisture included in
devoiced breaths as a method for communication support
in persons with speaking difficulties. Through the mois-
ture pattern formed in the pronunciation, the system
had a recognition rate of 93%. It was shown that by using
the optical fibre moisture sensor, a response representing
the moisture distribution pattern characteristic of a
breath corresponding to each devoiced vowel could be
obtained.
3.4. Ecological applications
In mountainous regions, stream water flow is often reg-
ulated by check dams, often made of concrete or wood-
logs, which decrease the water speed during storm events,
allow sediment to settle, and reduce erosion [26]. Timber
check dams have been successfully used for this purpose.
Biotic agents, especially wood-decaying fungi, grow and
spread when wood moisture is between 20% and 40% by
weight [46]. This wood decay causes an increase of poros-
ity that contributes to decrease material strength and in-
crease wood water storing capacity [47] and therefore,
measurements of the wood water content can provide
information about the degree of wood degradation. This
degradation will gradually alter the wood cells and struc-
tures generating micro/macro-pores where water can
move freely and currently electrical hygrometers are used
to measure the moisture content which measure either the
electrical conductivity or the electrical capacity at frequen-
cies under 10 MHz and these instruments typically have
two stainless steel electrodes that can either be inserted
into the wood samples at different depths according to
the measuring needs or kept in close contact with each
other [26]. Despite different conventional approaches used,
these methods cannot detect water flows out of the cellu-
lar walls, filling up the cell cavities, and leaking into the
vessels (raising the water content to over 30% when refer-
ring to the anhydrous wood) [26]. These measurements are
therefore only reliable in healthy timber. According to
Gambetta et al. [48], the development of more accurate
measurement techniques than traditional hygrometers
would be useful for watershed surveys since the water
content of wood is highly correlated with the level of
degradation.
 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074
Another similar area of interest for humidity monitor-
ing is obtaining information relating to the fracture tough-
ness of geo-materials which is critical to the understanding
of tensile fracturing, and in particular in geological and
rock engineering projects that are subjected to elevated
moisture levels and recently Nara et al. [27] conducted a
comprehensive set of fracture toughness tests on a suite
of key rock types in air under different RH at constant tem-
perature in order to investigate the influence of RH on frac-
ture toughness. They found that the value of fracture
toughness decreases with increasing RH. In addition, it
was discovered that the decrease in fracture toughness
was more significant when a particular type of clay was in-
cluded in rock which expands in the presence of water and
therefore crack-growth resistance decreases at high RH
levels. It was concluded that crack growth in rock is af-
fected by humidity, and that clay content is an important
contributing factor to changes in fracture toughness and
subcritical stress intensity factor. Therefore sensing
schemes that could provide information on the RH varia-
tions within such environments would convey the nature
and fracture toughness of the geo-material.
3.5. Agricultural applications
The study of root distribution and its ability in recover-
ing water has also been a subject of considerable interest in
agriculture and ecology as it allows a better interpretation
of the behaviour of different crops under sub-optimal envi-
ronments which would help improve the quality of model-
ling root water uptake in hydrological and land use change
models [8]. One interesting investigation was conducted
by Mackay et al. [49] into the effect of soil moisture on corn
root growth and it was found that, as soil moisture was in-
creased, the total plant weight increased by 13–43% and
the corn root length increased from 41% to 52% in 28 days.
As a consequence raising soil moisture content further, in
contrast, decreased the total plant weight by an average
of 13% and root length by an average of 16% in 21 days.
Therefore soil moisture content sensors are useful tools
for farmers and agricultural studies to improve the quality
of products, while saving farmers’ time to achieve opti-
mum conditions for satisfactory corn growth.
3.6. Mineral processing applications
Another area that can derive enormous benefit from soil
moisture content measurement is mineral processing
plants. The manual gravimetric drying moisture determi-
nation methods currently employed by most mineral pro-
cessing plants fail to provide timely and accurate
information required for automatic control [50]. The task
of moisture determination is still done by the classical
technique of loss in weight utilizing uncontrolled proce-
dures. Generally, it is acceptable to have ore concentrate
moisture content vary within a range of 7–9%, but control-
ling the moisture content below 8% is a difficult task with a
manually controlled system. On many occasions, delays in
achieving reliable feedback of the moisture content using
manual techniques, i.e. a delay between the humidity
variation and its measurement, results in a delay in the
4057
corrective actions that would be necessary and therefore
by the time the corrective action is applied, the actual
moisture content has changed. Therefore, when consider-
ing the cash flow of a mining operation that is governed
by both the smelter contract, with moisture penalties
and the quantity and quality of the concentrates shipped,
an efficient method of on-line moisture content monitor-
ing such as a fibre-optic moisture sensor would be an ideal
tool for this application.
3.7. Fuel applications
Combustion of biomass for heat and power production
is expanding due to the search for renewable alternatives
to fossil fuels and an important parameter when using bio-
mass is the moisture content of the fuel, which often fluc-
tuates for biomass fuels [51]. The variation in its moisture
content results in an uncertainty in the energy content of
the fuel delivered to a plant. The fuel moisture-content in
a furnace may be determined either by direct measure-
ment on the entering fuel or by measuring the moisture
and oxygen contents of the flue gases deriving the mois-
ture content of the fuel. However, reliable methods of a
moisture sensor for small to medium-scale furnaces are
not readily available at present. An exception is if the fur-
nace is equipped with flue-gas condenser, which can be
used to estimate the moisture content of the flue gases. A
limitation of this method is, though, that not all furnaces
have flue-gas condensers and that the measured signal
has an inherent time delay. Therefore effective moisture
content sensors are needed to determine the moisture con-
tent of the fuel.
3.8. Aerospace applications
Recently there has been a growing interest in humidity
sensors to perform in-situ measurements in space and the
most spectacular of these has been the near-surface atmo-
spheric water content on Mars [52–54]. Detailed atmo-
spheric temperature and RH data will result in an
improved understanding of the daily water vapour dynam-
ics and the stability of water near the surface [55]. The
water content of soils significantly influences their chemi-
cal and physical properties and is also needed for biological
processes to proceed. The amount of adsorbed water in the
soil is a function of water vapour density in the near-sur-
face atmosphere, the temperature, specific area per mass,
and the mineralogy [52]. An exciting example of this is
seen in space exploration using unmanned vehicles. The
thin layer of the upper millimetres of the Martian surface
is of particular interest since the soil interacts directly with
the varying atmospheric humidity, which can reach satura-
tion during night and early morning [56]. Therefore, near-
surface measurements of the atmospheric water vapour
content can allow the investigation into the interaction be-
tween the atmosphere and the adsorbed water, which is
deposited in the upper soil-layer. These studies have been
further enhanced by the discovery of methane on Mars
[57] which has increased interest concerning its origin
and destruction. The chemistry of methane production is
closely linked to the presence of water and detailed studies
4058 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074
Fig. 5. Modelled spectral transmittance of the atmosphere of the earth:
the black trace is composite synthetic transmittance resulting from a 50-
layer atmospheric model with parameters of a standard tropical
pressure–temperature profile and five infrared active atmospheric gases
(CO2, H2O, Ozone, Ethane and Methane). The red trace is the model for
water vapour alone [58]. (For interpretation of the references to colour in
this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
has been performed by Novak et al. [58] to measure water
vapour in Mars’ atmosphere and comparing their ratio to
that of the Earth (Fig. 5).
Liquid brines are of special interest to NASA’s Mars
Exploration Program because they are essential to under-
stand the potential habitability, both past and present, of
the planet and a miniature microwave soil moisture sensor
capable of probing the shallow subsurface of Mars to mea-
sure the distribution of brines, without the need for a drill
was proposed by Renno et al. [59]. The Phoenix Mars Land-
er discovered salts which can form liquid solutions at Mars’
current environmental conditions and found physical and
thermodynamical evidence for liquid brines at its landing
site [60]. A hypothesis has been made by Kok and Renno
[61] that water molecules from the precipitated ice be-
come available and diffuse into deliquescent salts in the
soil which would drive the salt concentration in the solu-
tion towards the eutectic value. If this is correct, liquid
brines could form almost anywhere where ground ice is
present near the surface of Mars [61] and if confirmed,
would have major implications for life on Mars. As can
be seen from these examples and other information from
the literature [62], it is evident that soil and atmospheric
moisture/humidity measurement in Mars is an interesting
new development in RH/moisture sensing technology that
would aid Martian explorations for habitability and other
related research.
3.9. Applications underpinning human comfort
Apart from the aforementioned applications, the mea-
surement of RH is important for human comfort such as
in air-condition monitoring and for achieving controlled
hygienic conditions. Hygrothermal analysis have become
more important in building design as moisture damages
has become one of the main causes of building envelope
deterioration [63]. Water and moisture can cause struc-
tural damage, reduce the thermal resistance, change the
physical properties and deform the building materials.
Hygrothermal analysis is needed to demonstrate the
acceptable performance of structures and to construct
healthy buildings with good indoor air quality and a fur-
ther example of RH sensing for health and hygienic condi-
tions is the monitoring of RH in hospitals. RH in operating
theatres are usually maintained between 40% and 60% as
humidity levels below 35% cause dry eyes, throat and skin,
and excessive thirst and evaporation is more rapid at low
humidity, increasing heat loss via sweat and body fluids
[19]. Above 50%RH, static build-up is minimized and high
humidity levels are uncomfortable. Pipeline and cylinder
gases must be dry, as moisture can act as a focus for bacte-
rial growth. Therefore, precise humidity and moisture
measurement and control is required in order to ensure
the health and comfort of the patients.
4. Fibre-optic techniques for humidity detection
There has been enormous growth in-fibre optic sensor
technology in the last few decades as new applications
open up and the technology matures. Previous reviews of
the underpinning technology of optical fibre sensors have
been published by some of the authors and are not further
reproduced here, but available to the interested reader
[64]. However to deal with the breadth of applications dis-
cussed in the previous sections and allow for the different
requirements of the sensors that have required develop-
ment to respond to those situations, a wide range of differ-
ent technological approaches to fibre optic humidity
sensors have been proposed in the literature. There is of
course ‘no right answer’ when it comes to designing an
optical fibre sensor for humidity or moisture measurement
and no one technology offers superiority over another per
se. What is critically important is that there is a range of
effective sensors from which to choose, to tailor the sensor
and its response to a specific application and thus to allow
the engineer the maximum flexibility to make the mea-
surement needed. Fibre optics, as is shown below, play a
full role in providing that choice.
There are several key requirements that need to be ad-
dressed when designing a humidity sensor, whether it be
for general or specific applications. These include the opti-
mization of some or all of the following: the sensitivity,
precision or accuracy (depending on the circumstances in
which the sensor is used), response time, target humidity
range, reproducibility, hysteresis, durability, minimal tem-
perature or other chemical cross-sensitivity, structural
integrity, ease of operation and, of course, cost. The disad-
vantage of utilizing electrical/electronic sensors is often
their susceptibility to electromagnetic interference, cross-
sensitivity and their inability to be multiplexed or to be
employed in hazardous environments as well as a suscep-
tibility to becoming and remaining ‘wet’ in use and thus
causing errors in the readings. On the contrary, optical fi-
bres possess a number of advantages over conventional
electrical/electronic sensors in general, such as immunity
to electromagnetic interference, chemical inertness, light
weight and low mass (which facilitates ‘drying’ after use),
multiplexing capability, high thermal stability and remote
sensing ability, all of which make them well suited to both
 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074
general and remote sensing, making them ideal candidates
for measurement applications where conventional electri-
cal/electronic sensors are found to be inappropriate or sim-
ply would not function. With the development of optical
fibre sensors and the demand for humidity/moisture mea-
surement for a wide range of applications in industry,
there has been a major development in research in the field
(as is evidenced by the increasing number of papers pub-
lished) and a special focus on optical fibre-based tech-
niques for humidity/moisture sensing.
Due to the wide range of often competing techniques
available on the basis of which to realize a number of dif-
ferent optical fibre-based RH/moisture sensing schemes, in
this paper the different types of sensors reported have
been categorized under several general schemes that high-
light first of all the operating principles being used. Such
optical fibre-based sensing techniques include the use of
in-fibre gratings, evanescent wave techniques, interfero-
metric methods, hybrid approaches and absorption meth-
ods, as discussed in detail below. Table 2 has been
created as a reference to draw these together and provide
an overview of the results reported by a number of the
authors whose work is cited in this review, with results
published by various groups, in order to facilitate a simple
cross comparison on a quantitative basis using their pub-
lished data.
4.1. Fibre grating sensors
Ever since their development from the late 1970s, in-fi-
bre gratings have been extensively used for various optical
fibre sensing schemes. Fibre gratings are created by modu-
lating the RI of the fibre core either by physical deforma-
tion [65–67] or by subjecting the photosensitive core to
intense radiation, usually in the UV part of the spectrum
[68,69]. Depending on the grating period achieved through
the modulation of the refractive index (RI) of the core, they
fall under two major categories: short-period or Fibre
Bragg Gratings (FBGs) or Long Period Gratings (LPGs). FBGs
have a very narrow reflection loss band resulting from the
typical grating periods used, usually being within 1–2 lm,
while the transmission of LPGs comprises a series of loss
bands resulting from relatively longer grating periods that
typically are in the region of several hundreds of microme-
tres. Both these grating types are sensitive to environmen-
tal parameters such as temperature and strain and, in
addition, LPGs also possess a sensitivity to external refrac-
tive index change which also enables them to be config-
ured as RI and species-specific sensors [70–74]. A
detailed description of the key operating principles of the
grating-based sensors mentioned can be found in the liter-
ature [69,75,76].
4.1.1. Fibre Bragg gratings
Most of the FBG-based sensors that are discussed and
are available on the market at present are configured for
strain and temperature monitoring, as a group of FBGs
can conveniently be multiplexed with several FBGs (usu-
ally with different wavelength characteristic) placed in
each channel to provide a convenient configuration to
use [77–79]. For humidity sensing purposes, the strain
4059
sensitivity of the FBG is employed as the underlying sens-
ing mechanism where a polymer which expands in volume
due to a humidity change will apply a strain on the grating,
thus changing the resonance wavelength in a known and
reproducible way that can be calibrated against the humid-
ity change causing it. As the sensor relies on the secondary
strain effect induced on the fibre through the swelling of
the polymer coating, the following adapted expressions
are used to relate the shift in the Bragg wavelength to
the results of RH and temperature-related strains which
are induced on the fibre, as well as the influence of the
thermo-optic effect [80].
DkB
¼ ð1  Pe ÞeRH þ ð1  P e ÞeT þ n  DT
Dk
where eRH and eT represent strain induced on the fibre as a
result of polymer swelling due to moisture expansion and
thermal expansion of the materials (where x denotes RH or
T) which is given below.
 
Ap Ep
ex ¼ ðapðxÞ  afðxÞ ÞDx
Ap Ep þ Af Ef
and, in addition, A is the cross-sectional area of the mate-
rial, E is Young’s modulus of the material, a the coefficient
of moisture expansion (CME) or the coefficient of thermal
expansion (CTE) and subscripts p and f represent the effect
on both polymer and fibre, respectively.
One example of the utilization of the strain effect to
realize an effective RH sensor is the work by Berruti et al.
[81] who conducted a feasibility analysis on the develop-
ment of a FBG-based humidity sensor that would with-
stand high energy ionizing radiation, in a series of
experiments conducted at the European Organization for
Nuclear Research (CERN). Polyimide (PI)-coated FBGs were
selected as a possible candidate for the primary sensor due
to the stringent requirements of the environment in light
of radiation ‘hardness’ compliance and low temperature
operation. In this approach, two FBGs were coated with
layers of 22.5 lm and 9 lm of PI (specifically Pyralin
PI 2525) designated as sensors 1 (S1) and 2 (S2) respec-
tively. The sensors were analyzed in terms of their opera-
tion over the RH range 0–75% for three different
temperatures relevant to the operation, these being
15 °C, 0 °C and 20 °C, both pre and post the ionization
radiation exposure. The pre- and post-test results on the
RH measurements carried out are shown in Fig. 6. It was
concluded that the PI coated FBG-based sensors were able
to perform RH measurements with high resolution in the
temperature range 15 to 20 °C as well as in the presence
of ionizing radiation, at levels of up to 10 kGy and therefore
this work has demonstrated their potential as a robust and
valid alternative to currently used polymer-based elec-
tronic hygrometers in high energy applications – the latter
suffering from the disadvantage of demonstrating no radi-
ation hardness capability toward the ionizing irradiation
used. It is important to note the different sensitivities of
the two sensors evaluated and as can be seen from Fig. 6,
the sensitivity of the FBG with the thicker coating (S1)
has demonstrated a higher sensitivity than that with the
thinner coating. This is due to a higher level of strain being
experienced by the underlying FBG from the effect on the
4060 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074

Table 2
Humidity/moisture optical fibre-based sensor schemes proposed and discussed in the literature over the period 2008–2013.

Ref. Year Authors Sensing method Sensing material Range Sensitivity and
(%RH) response time
In-fibre grating (FBG) techniques
[111] 2012 Correia et al. Strain induced Bragg wavelength measurement Silica/di-ureasil 5–95 22.2 pm/%RH
[112] 2012 Zhang et al. Strain induced Bragg wavelength measurement of etched POF No coating (PMMA 30–90 33.6 pm/%RH
polymer cladding) 7 min
[113] 2011 Berruti et al. Strain induced Bragg wavelength measurement PI 0–75 2.1 pm/%RH
–
[114] 2010 Ding et al. Strain induced Bragg wavelength measurement PI 30–80 2 pm/%RH
–
[115] 2009 Miao et al. Intensity variation measurement following external RI change of a PVA 20–74 2.52 dB m/%RH
tilted FBG 74–98 14.9 dB m/%RH
<2 s
[116] 2008 Yeo et al. Strain induced Bragg wavelength measurement PI 22-97 4.5 pm/%RH
25 min
In-fibre grating (LPG) techniques
[117] 2013 Zheng et al. Intensity and wavelength measurement of a LPG written in a PCF Al2O3+/PSS nano-film 22–29 0.0007%/pm
38–39 0.00022%/
103 dB m
[118] 2011 Viegas et al. Wavelength measurement of a LPG and a FBG configured in series SiO2 nano-sphere film 20–50 63.33 pm/%RH
(FBG for temperature calibration) 50–80 451.78 pm/%RH
<1 s
[119] 2011 Fu et al. Resonance-band wavelength measurement of an Air-Gap LPG (AG- CaCl2 55–95 1.36 nm/%RH
LPG) –
[120] 2009 Pissadakis LPG resonance band wavelength shift measurement Poly(ethylene oxide)/ 50–77 -0.23 nm/%RH
et al. CoCl2 77–95 0.33 nm/%RH
<10 s
[121] 2008 Venugopalan LPG resonance band wavelength shift measurement PVA 33–97 5.68 nm/%RH (for
et al. 75–97%RH)
<1 min
Evanescent wave monitoring
[122] 2013 Xia et al. Transmission power loss measurement of a hetero-core SMF Hydrogel 40–90 0.196 dB/%RH
10 s–1 min
[123] 2013 Urrutia et al. Absorbance measurement a PCF MMF where cladding is chemically PAA electrospun 30–95 <0.5 s
removed nanowires
[124] 2012 Liu et al. Transmission loss measurement in straight hydrothermally thinned ZnO nanorods grown 10–95 0.014 RH1
silica fibre on fibre
–
[125] 2012 Aneesh et al. Output power measurement of a de-clad MMF TiO2 24–95 27.1 mV/%RH
<0.5 s
[126] 2012 Li et al. Reflected power loss measurement of a hybrid SMF-polymer coated PVA 30–95 1.994 lW/%RH
MFT-FBG probe configuration
2 s
[94] 2012 Mathew et al. Ratiometric power measurement of a cladding removed u-bend PEO 85–90 High sensitivity
MMF
<1 s
[127] 2011 Zhao et al. Wavelength measurement in a SMF-MMF-SMF sensor structure PVA 50–89 0.18 nm/%RH
–
[128] 2011 Zhao et al. Absorbance measurement of U-bend fibre Silica/methylene blue 1.1–4.1 0.0087 RH1
20 s–3 min
[129] 2010 Fuke et al. Absorption measurement of U-bend cladding removed POF (MMF) Ag-Polyaniline 5–95 28.78 mV/%RH
30 s
[130] 2010 Akita et al. Intensity measurement in a MMF-SMF-MMF hetero-core fibre Poly-glutamic acid/ 50– 0.006 dB/%RH
poly-lysine 92.9
<6 s
[131] 2009 Shukla et al. Power loss measurement of a SMF connected to a coated U-bend ZnO 5–50 0.45 RH1
glass rod
50–90 0.3 RH1
30 s
[132] 2008 Vijayan et al. Measurement of optical power loss of a U-bend cladding stripped Co/Polyiniline 20–34 0.749 mV/%RH
POF
35–80 2.002 mV/%RH
80–92 3.406 mV/%RH
8s
[133] 2008 Zhang et al. Output power measurement of a diameter tapered MMF Gelatin 9–94 <0.5 s
 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074 4061

Interferometric approach
[134] 2012 Liang et al. Etched PMF loop mirror PVA 20–80 0.98 nm/%RH
<6 s
[102] 2012 Chen et al. Strain induced on chemically etched PM fibre in a Sagnac Chitosan 20–95 81 pm/%RH
configuration
–
[103] 2012 Chen et al. Wavelength shift measurement following a FPI configuration at the Chitosan 20–95 0.13 nm/%RH
coated distal end of the fibre.
[135] 2012 Wong et al. Wavelength measurement following a merge of PCF at the tip PVA 90 0.60 nm/%RH
forming a Michelson interferometer
0.5 s
[136] 2011 Wu et al. Wavelength measurement of silica/polymer microfiber knot (No coating) 17–98 8.8 pm/%RH
resonator
<0.5 s
[137] 2011 Consales Output power measurement following a FPI configuration at the Tin dioxide 2–5 6.9  103%1
et al. coated distal end of MMF
5–40 5  103%1
–
Hybrid sensors: grating + interferometric configuration
[138] 2013 Mathew et al. Transmission loss measurement in the hybrid FBG-PCF Agarose 20–60 0.026 dB/%RH
interferometer (FBG for temperature reference)
60–90
0.163 dB/%RH
<1 s
[105] 2013 Alwis et al. LPG resonance band shift measurement of a LPG in a Michelson PI 20–80 0.10 nm/%RH
configuration
–
[106] 2012 Alwis et al. LPG resonance band shift measurement of a LPG in a Michelson PVA 20–85 0.6 nm/%RH (for
configuration 40–85%RH)
-
[104] 2011 Gu et al. Wavelength shift of a thin-core fibre modal interferometer (TCFMI) TiO2 20–90 84.3 pm/%RH
and FBG hybrid structure
2s
[139] 2009 Yu et al. LPG resonance band shift measurement of a cascaded LPG in a Hydrogel 60–100 9.9  103/%RH
Mach-Zehnder configuration.
–
Absorption measurements
[140] 2012 Noor et al. Absorption power measurement of a hollow core photonic band- (No coating) 0–90 3.02 mV/%RH
gap filter
78–118 s
[141] 2012 Mohan et al. Absorbance spectra measurement using SPR Au-NP/boehmite – –
<20 s
[142] 2011 Sanchez et al. Wavelength measurement using LMR for two different coating ITO 20–80 0.283 nm/%RH
materials
In2O3 0.935 nm/%RH
[109] 2011 Wang et al. Intensity measurement of MMF coated with sensing material at PVA/SiO2/CoCl2 25–65 –
the distal end
<2 min
[143] 2011 Rivero et al. Absorbance spectra measurement using SPR Polymeric film with Ag 20–80 –
nano-particles.
–
[144] 2011 Zamarreno Cladding removed MMF using LMR. ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) 20–60 2.7%RH/nm
et al.
[110] 2010 Estella et al. Measurement of reflected optical power Xerogel 10–70 8  102 nm1%1
10 s–2 min
[145] 2009 Hernaez et al. Wavelength measurement using SPR ITO 20–80 1.08 nm/%RH
–
[146] 2008 Corres et al. Measurement of reflected power where fibre end is coated with SiO2 nano-particles 75–100 0.3 dB/%RH
sensing material
<1 s

thicker layer and the larger material volume and this result
is confirmed by research from other groups who also uti-
lized PI coated FBGs for RH measurement [82] (although
usually not under nuclear irradiation). There is, however,
usually a penalty with the response time of the sensor,
although this may not be a consideration in some applica-
tions [82].
A further example of utilizing a PI-coated FBG is in the
work by Sun et al. [23] who conducted an investigation
into the decay mechanisms and associated processes
occurring in masonry structures, with a view to achieve a
clearer understanding of the changing moisture and tem-
perature conditions that underpin decay and degradation.
In order to do so, several PI-coated FBG sensors were
4062 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074

Fig. 6. Bragg wavelength shift vs. relative humidity before and after the irradiation process for sensor (a) S1 and (b) S2 at the three considered temperature
[81].

developed and, prior to use in-the-field, their performance
was first assessed in the laboratory where they were char-
acterized under experimental conditions of controlled wet-
ting and drying cycles of limestone blocks. Sensors were
then employed to monitor an actual building stone in a
specially built limestone wall (using techniques similar to
those employed by the original constructors in past centu-
ries). The sensor design developed specifically for this work
can be seen in Fig. 7(a). One of the advantages of this ap-
proach is the compact and minimally invasive nature of
the sensor, thus requiring much less damage to the wall
for its insertion, with only the drilling of one small pilot
hole required for the mounting of the sensor – a key con-
sideration with historic structures. Another similar, but
uncoated FBG was also included in the sensor-head (serv-
ing as a temperature-only sensor) as can be seen from
Fig. 7(b), in order to eliminate the temperature induced
wavelength shift from the RH sensor (which also showed
a temperature sensitivity which needed to be eliminated).
One noticeable advantage is the faster response of the FBG
sensor compared to the commercial capacitance sensor.
The indication from the commercial (a conventional and
non-fibre optic design) RH probe was saturated at
100%RH, whereas the measurement by the FBG sensor var-
ied for RH between 90% and 93%, showing that the com-
mercial RH sensor element had saturated and hence the
RH measurements were unreliable during the drying of
the limestone structure – reflecting a key drawback with
the conventional electrical sensors used which failed to
dry out properly, due to high mass when wet initially. By
 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074
Fig. 7. (a) Schematic diagram of the sensor design, (b) picture of the packaged sensor probe showing a coated grating as a relative humidity sensor and a
bare grating as a temperature sensor and (c) changes in RH at 30 mm depth of stone with drying of the stone block [23].
contrast, the optical fibre RH sensor, due to its small size
and low mass, has been able to follow the actual change
of the RH characteristics of the wall.
4.1.2. Long period gratings
The sensitivities of LPGs to environmental parameters
such as temperature and strain are much higher than those
of FBGs [75] although FBGs are popularly used owing to
their ease of production, handling and easier multiplexing
capability due to the simpler structure of their optical fea-
tures. In addition, the external RI sensitivity of LPGs has
been utilized to create species-specific sensors by coating
the sensor with a material that will interact well with
the target analyte. The RI and the coating thickness of the
sensing material needs to be given careful consideration
in the sensor design using LPGs as the sensor response,
i.e. wavelength or intensity variation, will depend strongly
on these parameters [83–85]. The RH sensitivity of LPGs
can be described by the equation below, where kres,0i is
the resonance wavelength of the ith mode, thoverlay is the
thickness of the overlay, RIoverlay and RIsur are the overlay
and surrounding refractive indices.
@kres;0i @kres;0i
Dkres;0i ¼  DRIoverlay þ  Dthoverlay
@RIoverlay @thoverlay
@kres;0i
þ  DRIsur
@RIsur
Recently there has been a boom in the use of LPG-based
sensors in the fields of biomedical, SHM and chemical
sensing [86]. The most common method for LPG-based
sensing of a parameter such as RH is via the coating of
the sensor with a hydrophilic material, such as a polymer,
that will alter its physical or optical parameters in re-
sponse to the external stimulus, i.e. the variation of the
RI or causing an applied strain on the LPG as a result of
the coating-layer expansion, leading to a variation in the
target resonance band of the LPG. One such example is
the work by Bock et al. [87], who have demonstrated the
possibility of efficient distributed water ingress sensing
by the deposition of diamond-like carbon (DLC) on LPGs
4063
Fig. 8. Experimental set-up for measuring the response to water ingress
[87].
and subjecting them to water ingress. This was achieved
by covering the sensor with a piece of KimwipeÒ paper
which was soaked with water before sliding the moist
KimwipeÒ piece along the grating and the spectral re-
sponse was measured at each length. Two sensors coated
with DLC, that have coating thicknesses and RIs of
181.6 nm, 2.02 (S1) and 285 nm and 2.07 (S2) respectively,
were tested. The test set-up and the results obtained are
shown in Figs. 8 and 9, where it can be seen that the two
coatings performed in a completely different manner, i.e.
S1 and S2 produced wavelength and intensity variations
in the resonance bands respectively. This effect is due to
the aforementioned coating thickness and RI differences
between the two coatings used. This phenomenon is a re-
sult of ‘‘mode guiding’’ in the overlay which has been stud-
ied by some groups recently [88–90].
The results of the coating thickness investigations men-
tioned above have paved way to a mechanism that will in-
crease the sensitivity of the RH sensor. This is achieved by a
‘‘double-coating’’ – the LPG is initially coated with a thin
overlay of a material with a particular RI leading to an in-
crease in the sensitivity of the LPG to external RI variations.
Then a second overlay is deposited with the species-spe-
cific material targeting the particular analyte. Many theo-
retical and experimental investigations have been
undertaken to analyze this mechanism [91]. One such
example is in the work by Viegas et al. [92] where an initial
coating of PDDA/PolyR-478 was deposited on the LPG for
the sole purpose of increasing the total effective RI of the
coating, followed by the deposition of a humidity sensitive
coating of lower RI (PAH/SM30). The thickness and the RI
of the two overlays have been carefully designed for
4064 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074
Fig. 9. Spectral responses to water ingress for DLC-nanocoated LPG (a) S1 and (b) S2 [87].
maximum sensitivity. The results for varying the RH over
the range of 20–80% at room temperature are presented
in Fig. 10 and it can be clearly seen that the initial coating
of the higher RI polymer layer has greatly increased the
overall sensitivity of the sensor to varying RH.
4.2. Evanescent wave sensors
Exponentially decaying evanescent fields surrounding
the cladding region of optical fibre may be utilized for
developing different types of intensity modulated Fibre
Optic Sensors (FOS). Through this method, evanescent
wave absorption in an external medium is obtained by
physically altering the fibre, such as the removal or etching
of the cladding, creating a taper or bending the fibre to al-
low interaction of the evanescent field with the target ana-
lyte. The main mechanism for evanescent wave sensing
has been detailed in the previous review by Yeo et al.
[37]. For the case of RH sensing, the physically deformed fi-
bre structures are then coated with a species-specific over-
lay that would react to an external measurand, in this case
to variations in humidity. A recent example of this type of
sensor for RH measurement has been proposed by Corres
et al. [93] who worked on a single-mode tapered fibre
coated with a [PDDA/Poly R-478] nanostructured overlay,
in such a way that the thickness of the overlay was
Fig. 10. Resonant wavelength shift dependence with relative humidity
for both coatings [92].
Fig. 11. Taper humidity sensor structure with the ESA overlay [93].
controlled in order to optimize the sensitivity of the sensor,
by stopping the deposition process at the maximum slope
of the transmitted optical power. The RH sensor structure
is presented in Fig. 11. A variation of 16 dB in optical power
was achieved with a response time of 300 ms for changes
in RH from 75% to 100%. Due to the fast response (by com-
parison to many other RH sensors), high dynamic perfor-
mance and the low temperature cross-sensitivity, the
sensor was tailored to applications such as human breath-
ing monitoring, the control of highly humidity dependent
chemical processes or weather prediction. The characteris-
tics of the sensor scheme for varying RH, together with the
results of a commercially available capacitive RH sensor,
are presented in Fig. 12.
Recently, another evanescent wave-based sensor for
human breathing monitoring was proposed by Mathew
et al. [94] who utilized a buffer-stripped bent SMF where,
due to the coupling of the fundamental mode to cladding
modes, resonant peaks will occur in the transmission re-
sponse. This response is oscillatory with respect to the
bend radius and wavelength and also was seen to vary
Fig. 12. Relative humidity step response of tapered fiber sensor vs.
commercial capacitive RH sensor [93].
 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074 4065

Fig. 13. Experimental setup for studying the humidity response of the PEO coated fibre bend and the Poly(ethylene oxide) coated fibre bend [53].

Fig. 14. Continuous human breath response of the sensor [53].

with ambient RI. If the surrounding RI of the bend fibre is Fig. 15. Time response of the Agarose coated fibre-bend sensor obtained
by applying a step change of humidity [95].
changed, it will lead to a change in the coupling conditions
and results in a shift in the wavelength of the resonant
peaks. The sensitivity to RH was achieved by coating the
bend with Polyethylene Oxide (PEO) which is a hydroscop-
ic polymer. In order to achieve improved sensitivity for the Reference
humidity sensor, a high bend loss fibre (1060XP) with a Optical 3-dB 3-dB
fibre coupler
bend radius of 15 mm has been used. The experimental coupler
Sensing arm
setup and the coated fibre bed are shown in Fig. 13.
Although the sensor was tested against RH over the range (a)
from 30% to 90%, it was observed that there was no mea-
surable wavelength attenuation band below 85%RH. This
was due to the RI of the coated PEO film being above the Mirror
RI of the cladding and therefore the PEO coating is acting Optical 3-dB
as an absorption coating. However, as the surrounding fibre coupler
(b)
RH increases above 85%RH resonant dips appeared in the Mirror
transmission spectrum due to mode coupling and experi-
ence a red shift with the increase of RH. To prove the fea-
(b)
sibility of using the sensor as a breath rate monitor it was
placed at a distance of about 2 cm from the tip of the nose Input Output
and the resulting breath RH response of the sensor was re-
corded as shown in Fig. 14, for a time span of 60 s. An 3-dB coupler
agreeably fast recovery and repeatability of the sensor
PC
was achieved for the target application. Another interest-
ing evanescent field RH sensor in a U-bend configuration
has been proposed by the same group [95] using humidity
sensitive Agarose coating on a SMF and the response of the
sensor for a step change in RH is shown in Fig. 15. Sensing fibre

4.3. Interferometric sensors (c)

Optical fibre based interferometers use the interference Fig. 16. Schematic of optical fibre-based (a) Mach–Zehnder, (b) Michel-
between two beams that have propagated through different son and (c) Sagnac interferometer configurations.
4066 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074

Fig. 17. RH response of the oxidized Chitosan with etched PM fiber and 1% Chitosan with etched polarization maintaining (PM) fiber [102].

optical paths of a single fibre or two different fibres in which
one of the optical paths could be engineered to be affected
by a specific external perturbation. The target measurand
can be determined by various means of detection in terms
of wavelength, intensity, phase and polarization, etc. Vari-
ous interferometer configurations such as the Mach–Zehn-
der, Michelson, Sagnac and Fabry–Perot can be designed
for sensing applications [96–100] as illustrated in Fig. 16.
Optical fibre interferometers have been very successful in
sensor application e.g. the Sagnac interferometer is used as
a rotation measurement for both civilian and military appli-
cations [101]. The current trend in fibre optic interferome-
ters is to miniaturize them for micro-scale applications
and thus, traditional bulk optic components such as beam
splitters, combiners, and objective lenses have been rapidly
replaced by small-sized fibre devices that enable the sensors
to operate on fibre scales. This innovation suits well for RH
monitoring applications and such being the case, in-line
structures such as that of fibres which have two optical
paths within its physical structure, offering easy alignment,
high coupling efficiency and high stability, are seen as ideal
for sensing applications.
Recently, Chen et al. [102] have proposed a RH sensor
based on a high-birefringence polarization-maintaining fi-
bre (PMF)-based Sagnac loop configuration as can be seen
from Fig. 17(a). The humidity sensing principle of the de-
vice discussed utilizes the inherent characteristics of the
Sagnac interferometer by coating the PMF with moisture-
sensitive Chitosan whose degree of swelling varies as a
function of RH leading to a secondary strain effect on the
PMF. The strain effect induced on the PMF is seen to mod-
ulate its birefringence in a way that can be correlated with
the variation of RH. To optimize the response of the sensor,
a series of experiments was first conducted to evaluate the
effect of Chitosan concentration on the PMF, followed by
an investigation into the effects of chemically etched PMF

Fig. 18. Schematic diagram of the Chitosan-coated FPI RH sensor and the wavelength shift of the sensor upon exposure to environment of varying relative
humidity [103].
 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074
Fig. 19. (a) Schematic configuration of the fiber-optic RH sensor and (b) the dynamic response of the fabricated RH sensor to the change in humidity [104].
with a modified Chitosan sensing film on the sensor’s per-
formance. The results obtained are shown in Fig. 17(b) and
as can be seen, the chemically modified Chitosan coating
combined with the etching has resulted in a good sensor
performance. The optimized sensor was reported to exhibit
a sensitivity of 81 pm/%RH for a humidity change over the
range from 20% to 95%.
Another interesting interferometric RH sensor proposed
by Chen et al. [103] involves splicing a section of hollow-
core fibre to a SMF and to coat the tip of the hollow core
fibre with Chitosan, thereby creating a Fabry–Perot Inter-
ferometer (FPI) sensor, as can be seen from the diagram
shown in Fig. 18(a). The sensing mechanism responds to
the swelling effect of Chitosan which then induces an opti-
cal path modulation when the external RH is changed –
this can be monitored, as can be seen from Fig. 18(b).
The sensor exhibits a sensitivity of 0.13 nm/%RH for RH
ranging from 20% to 95% with a fast response time of
380 ms.
4.4. Hybrid sensors (grating + interferometric)
Several sensor designs have been reported which in-
volve a combination of both fibre grating and interferomet-
ric configurations to achieve more effective RH sensing
than through the use of either approach alone. As dis-
cussed in the in-fibre grating section, both FBGs and LPGs
written into conventional fibres are inherently sensitive
Intensity (dBm)
(a)
λ (nm)
Intensity (dBm)
(b)
λ (nm)
Fig. 20. Light propagation in the SILPG (a) forward propagation path and (b) propagation path of the reflection [107].
4067
to temperature. Therefore in most cases where hybrid sen-
sors are considered, the involvement of the grating is for
the purpose of eliminating the temperature-induced mea-
surement error from the actual RH/moisture sensing re-
sults. One such example is the work of Gu et al. [104]
who presented a RH sensor based on a thin-core fibre
modal interferometer with a FBG between, where poly
(N-ethyl-4-vinylpyridinium chloride) (P4VPHCl) and poly
(vinylsulfonic acid, a sodium salt) (PVS) are deposited on
the surface of the sensor for RH sensing. A schematic of
the sensor can be seen Fig. 19(a). The FBG is used to com-
pensate temperature effects on the overall sensor perfor-
mance. The sensor described has been reported to be
able to detect RH changes with a resolution of 0.78%, oper-
ating over a large RH range at different temperatures. A lin-
ear, fast and reversible response has been experimentally
demonstrated, as can be seen in Fig. 19(b).
Another benefit of the hybrid design for interferomet-
ric-grating sensing is to improve the measuring technique,
i.e. to create a probe, and thus to achieve a better resolu-
tion in the detection system. A typical configuration
involving a single grating-based LPG sensor system fre-
quently has the disadvantage of the probe being used in
transmission mode. Further, the broad bandwidth of the
attenuation bands formed by the propagation mode cou-
pling between the core and the cladding modes constitutes
a difficulty when the device is used as a conventional sen-
sor probe. To overcome these limitations, a Michelson
core
cladding
Mirror
LPG
Mirror
4068 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074

(a)

(b)

Fig. 21. (a) Results for the PI coated LPG RH sensor probe and (b) comparison between the performance of PI and PVA coated LPG based RH sensor probes
[108].

Fig. 22. The system diagram of the humidity sensor and the detail structure of the fiber tip coated with sensitive thin-film. The test result of different
amount of CoClz in PYA/SiOz composite material [109].

interferometer-type sensor configuration has been pro- in order to create a refractometer. This sensor configura-
posed by Lam et al [41] using a LPG grating pair formed tion is more convenient to use and is able to overcome
by coating a mirror at the distal end of the LPG, i.e. termed the limitations of the single LPG sensor due to the shifts
as Self interfering LPG (SILPG), as can be seen from Fig. 20, in the attenuation bands being more easily detectable.
 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074 4069

Fig. 23. Experimental set-up for the absorption-based humidity sensing application reported by Estella et al. [110].

Table 3
Humidity/moisture application-specific sensors, over the period 2003–2013.

Ref. Year Authors Sensor application Sensing mechanism

Biomedical measurements
[15] 2012 Favero Breathing sensor Reflection spectra measurement of SMF in-line with a PCF in both open and
et al. closed end configurations
[17] 2011 Akita et al. Breathing sensor Light intensity variation of hetero-core fibre configuration coated with a
hydroscopic polymer
[16] 2008 Morisawa Recognition of devoiced vowels Light intensity measurement of moisture sensitive polymer coated de-clad multi-
et al. mode POF
[14] 2007 Kang et al. Breathing air-flow monitor Measurement of reflectance of polymer thin film coated the end-tip of fibre in an
optical cavity interferometric configuration
Climate/agricultural monitoring
[147] 2011 Bilro et al. Turbidity sensor Variation in the transmitted and scattered light collected via two fibres that are
made to be in and out-of-phase to each other
[148] 2008 Kuang Flood monitoring Loss in intensity of a U-bend MMF due to surrounding refractive index change
et al.
[149] 2008 Clevers Canopy water content sensor Reflection spectrum variation due to the water absorption by the target analyte.
et al.
[9] 2006 Eitel et al. Water stress detection of Poplar Reflection spectrum variation due to the water absorption by the target analyte
plantation
[10] 2003 Sims et al. Water content sensor for Reflection spectrum variation in the NIR region due to the water absorption by
vegetation the target
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM)
[22] 2013 Kaya et al. Water detection in concrete Measurement of ring-down times of etched SMF embedded in concrete in a fibre
ring configuration due to change in the refractive index of the surrounding
[23] 2012 Sun et al. Building stone condition Bragg wavelength monitoring of PI coated FBG in SMF
monitoring
[150] 2012 Mathew Dew detection Power loss measurement of a PCF interferometer in line with SMF
et al.
[151] 2006 Yeo et al. Moisture absorption in concrete Bragg wavelength monitoring of PI coated FBG in SMF
Quality control applications
[152] 2011 Srivastava Water content measurement in Wavelength shift measurement of gold coated de-clad MMF using SPR
et al. ethanol
[153] 2010 Xiong et al. Water content measurement in Measurement of evanescent field absorbance of a coiled optical fibre
ethanol
[154] 2009 Puckett Water detection in jet fuel Intensity and wavelength shift of a LPG coated with PAA/PDMA
et al.

(continued on next page)

4070 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074
Table 3 (continued)
Ref. Year Authors Sensor application
[155] 2009 Zhang Water detection in jet fuel
et al.
[156] 2008 Rodreguez Humidity detection in oil-paper
et al insulation of electrical apparatus.
Other applications
[31] 2012 Cho et al. Water leak detection
[32] 2011 Hsu et al. Water detection in optical fibre
splice enclosures
[33] 2008 Baldini Dew detection inside organ pipes
et al.
The same configuration was applied to achieve a grating
based RH sensing reflective probe by Alwis et al. who
coated the LPGs (in such a configuration) with PI [105]
and PVA [106] respectively. Both the PVA and PI swell with
the increase of RH in its surroundings. The RI of PVA and PI
is 1.53 and 1.7 respectively. Since the cladding RI is around
1.44, PVA lies closer to the cladding RI than that of PI and
therefore it would experience a greater RI change than PI.
This latter material has been coated to create a moisture-
related strain induced RH sensor and PVA is used to induce
a RH related external RI variation on the LPG. A comparison
between the performance characteristics of these two dif-
ferent polymer-coated SILPGs are shown in Fig. 21. It can
be seen that PVA offers higher sensitivity of the two poly-
mers used, although its sensing region is limited and the
performance is non-linear, these being disadvantages that
may be overcome for certain applications. PI on the other
hand, offers a linear performance that is easy to process,
but with overall less sensitivity in most of the target range
compared to that achieved with PVA.
4.5. Absorbance sensors
Absorption-based methods have been familiar for opti-
cal fibre sensors since the beginnings of the sensors field
and absorbance-based optical fibre-based sensor measure-
ments are made by monitoring the intensity variation as a
result of absorption due to the interaction between the
chemical reagents involved and moisture (the main mech-
anism for absorbance-based optical fibre sensing has been
detailed in the previous review by Yeo et al. [37]). One such
RH sensor was proposed by Wang et al. [109] who coated a
moisture-sensitive film at the tip of a multi-mode fibre
(MMF). The film was synthesized by doping CoCl2 into a
PVA/SiO2 composite solution. Based on the absorption
dependence of CoCl2 on humidity, the sensor was charac-
terized using the absorption at wavelength bands 550 nm
and 750 nm respectively. From the change of absorption,
RH changes over the range from 25% to 65% were detected.
The sensor showed good repetitive response with less than
2 min response time. The system and the test results are
shown in Fig. 22.
Another absorption-based RH sensor design has been
proposed by Estella et al. [110] by using a porous silica
xerogel film synthesised by the sol–gel process as the sens-
ing element. The specific goals of the research were to
Sensing mechanism
Wavelength shift measurement of FBG written into a POF where the cladding is
made of PMMA
Intensity variation measurement of a U-bend PVA coated plastic MMF caused by
surrounding refractive index change.
Transmission loss caused by the bending of SMF attached to acrylate polymer that
swells with water
Reflection light measurement using OTDR technique incorporating the change in
refractive index (from air to water) when infiltrated
1. Reflection spectra measurement of cladding removed U-bend MMF
2. Reflection spectra measurement of open-end MMF
design and tune a measuring cell working under volumet-
ric static conditions and to evaluate the sensitivity, revers-
ibility and reproducibility of the sensor. The sensing
mechanism was based on the change in reflected optical
power when water molecules were adsorbed on the silica
xerogel film. The experimental set-up is shown in Fig. 23
and comprised an optical system, a measuring cell, a vac-
uum and dosification system, and controllers for tempera-
ture and pressure. Light at port 4 is guided to the index
matching liquid (toluene), where no reflection occurs (to
avoid interference) while the signal in port 2 reaches the
xerogel film interface. Exposure of the xerogel film to
water vapour inside the measuring cell produces variations
in the reflected signal, which is reflected back to the cou-
pler and measured at the spectrometer (port 3).
5. Overview
The key feature of a review of this type has been to
present the key information required to the sensor user
which will allow the optimum choice of sensor to be made
for any particular application and for research to be stimu-
lated to enable the development of new sensors to tackle
unmet and likely challenging needs. Given the breadth of
applications and fibre optic-based technologies discussed
above, it is useful to tabulate the key features of these sen-
sors – sensing method, sensing material, range, sensitivity
and response time (where known), as well as the date of
first publication and the group responsible for the develop-
ment – as well as the source of further information (the
original reference in the literature) to help in that search.
To aim to do that, two tables are presented below: Table 2
presents an overview of the mentioned sensor schemes
and various other related sensor schemes available in the
literature. Table 2 particularly focus on work done in the
period 2008–2013 – the last five years – and thus aim both
to be highly topical and to build on the work tabulated in
our previous review [37] which dealt with the state-of-
the-art prior to 2008, and to which the interested reader
is referred for prior research in the field. Table 3 provides
a few examples where optical fibre-based RH sensors have
been used for specific target applications.
Thus, in summary, this review has shown how well fi-
bre optic sensing technology has provided, and indeed con-
tinues to provide, an alternative and highly effective
approach to moisture and humidity sensing as it offers real
 L. Alwis et al. / Measurement 46 (2013) 4052–4074
advantages over the use of conventional electrical-based
sensing methods. The explosive growth in both the tech-
nology and applications over the main focus period of this
review (2008–2013) is evident from the range of example
cited and compared and the breadth of applications seen.
The review has provided examples which signify the diver-
sity of applications and the demand for RH/moisture sen-
sors in industry today. A representative variety of optical
fibre-based sensing techniques available to perform the
measurement of humidity and moisture have been dis-
cussed, with a brief introduction to each optical fibre sens-
ing scheme. A detailed survey on each optical fibre sensing
scheme employed for RH and moisture detection in the lit-
erature has been presented. Tables 2 and 3 have presented
an overview of the major work discussed in this review
using information from available literature with detailed
information on various optical fibre-based RH sensing
schemes that are proposed recently, over the past 5 years
(Table 2), that allow cross-comparison and the selection
of suitable sensing method for specific applications, nearly
all work and results obtained in a controlled laboratory
environment. Table 3 has presented various optical fibre-
based sensing schemes that are in practice for RH and
moisture measurement for specific target applications.
The study has thus covered a wide variety of extrinsic
and intrinsic FOS schemes reported in the literature for
RH and moisture sensing as at present.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the support
from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research
Council (EPSRC) through various schemes.
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