Device and method for calibrating a fiber-optic temperature measuring system

1. A device for calibrating a fiber-optic temperature measuring system taking into account spatially resolved attenuation measurements along an optical fiber, comprising:

a broadband light source configured to generate light;

coupling means for coupling-in the light generated by said broadband light source for calibration into the optical fiber; and the coupling means coupling-out components of the light generated by said broadband light source and backscattered out of the optical fiber;

an evaluation unit configured to calibrate the spatially resolved attenuation measurements based on the backscattered components of the light from the broadband light source; and

a laser coupled into the optical fiber for temperature measurement,

wherein said evaluation unit is configured to calibrate the spatially resolved attenuation measurements based on a ratio of an intensity of the Stokes scattered radiation to an intensity of the anti-Stokes scattered radiation of light from the laser coupled into the optical fiber for temperature measurement;

wherein the light generated by said broadband light source has a bandwidth greater than a bandwidth of the Stokes and/or anti-Stokes scattered radiation of the light from the laser that is coupled into the optical fiber.

2. The device according to claim 1 , wherein a bandwidth of the light generated by said broadband light source is greater than 10 nm.

3. The device according to claim 1 , wherein a bandwidth of the light generated by said broadband light source is greater than 30 nm.

4. The device according to claim 1 , wherein a bandwidth of the light generated by said broadband light source is greater than 50 nm.

5. The device according to claim 1 , wherein a bandwidth of the light generated by said broadband light source is greater than 100 nm.

6. The device according to claim 1 , wherein said broadband light source is a super-luminescence diode.

7. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the light generated by said broadband light source includes components in a spectral range of the Stokes and/or anti-Stokes scattered radiation of the light from the laser that is coupled into the optical fiber.

8. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the light generated by said broadband light source has a bandwidth at least half of a bandwidth of the Stokes and/or anti-Stokes scattered radiation of the light from the laser that is coupled into the optical fiber.

9. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the coupling means is a geometrical coupling means.

10. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the coupling means comprises a mirror with an opening or a region that is at least partly transmissive to the light from the broadband light source.

11. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the coupling means comprises a beam splitter.

12. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the coupling means comprises an optical switch.

13. The device according to claim 12 , wherein said optical switch is a fiber switch.

14. The device according to claim 1 , integrated into the temperature measuring system, wherein said evaluation unit forms a part of an evaluation system of the temperature measuring system.

15. The device according to claim 1 , configured as a separate unit, embodied separately from the temperature measuring system.

16. A method for using the device in accordance with claim 1 , which comprises the following method steps:

generating the broadband light;

coupling the broadband light into the optical fiber;

coupling components of the broadband light that are backscattered out of the optical fiber;

evaluating Stokes and anti-Stokes backscattered components of the light; and

calibrating the spatially resolved attenuation measurements based on the ratio of the intensity of the Stokes backscattered light to the intensity of the anti-Stokes backscattered light from the laser coupled into the optical fiber on the basis of the evaluating step.