This book covers both the physical properties of sensors for converting physical quantities into digital data and the design of complex measurement and data analyzing systems. In respect thereof, a unique treatment of measurement and sensor systems is given from a physical point of view, wherein a focus is on innovative links between physics and engineering sciences. The acquisition of data by measurement systems equipped with appropriate sensors is a fundamental activity in science and industry. In a connected world, the field of measurement and sensor systems can be regarded as an enabling technology for other fields of research and development, e.g., for electronics, chemistry, biology, and environmental monitoring. The book is divided into eleven chapters, each chapter starting with a discussion of measurement systems based on the relevant sensor concept followed by an in-depth description of the data processing and analysis procedures. After an introduction presenting fundamentals of measurement systems, digital measurement systems are addressed in detail. Then, operational amplifiers and measurement bridges as well as measurement signal processing methods are presented. After discussing transducers based on ohmic, capacitive, and inductive effects, temperature measurement systems are described. A separate chapter is devoted to optical measurement and sensor systems which represent a field of increasing importance.

Professor Koch studied electrical engineering and information technology at Technische Universität München (TUM) and obtained his doctorate in 1988. From 1988 to 1992, he was a research fellow at the Max Planck Society-Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. He completed his Lecturer qualification in electro physics in 1992. In the same year, he accepted the position of Professor of measurement science at Saarland University. Professor Koch has been Full Professor of measurement systems and sensor technology at TUM since 1998. His teaching covers the fields of sensor technology, photonic measurement systems, and laser measurement systems. He also lectures regularly at the German Institute of Science and Technology, GIST-TUM Asia, in Singapore. The research activities of Professor Koch include optomechatronic measurement technology, laser measurement systems, optical fiber sensors, holographic speckle interferometry, image and sensor data processing, FTIR spectroscopy, environmental monitoring, multisensory systems, and medical sensor systems.