  We present an approximate analytic model that has been developed for
examining hydrodynamic flow near the surface of a fiber optic sensor. An
analysis of the conservation of momentum, the continuity equation and the
Navier-Stokes equation for compressible flow was used to develop expressions
for the velocity and the density as a function of the distance along the flow
and above a two dimensional flat surface. When examining the flow near the
surface, these expressions can be used to estimate the sensitivity required to
perform direct optical measurements and to parameterize the shear force for
indirect optical measurements. The use of these results allows for direct
modeling of sensors using the optical properties of the flow field. Future work
includes analyzing the optical parametric design of fiber optic sensors,
modeling sensors to utilize those parameters for optimal measurements involving
different mixtures of fluid flow.
