Anovel fiber-optic relative humidity (RH) sensor with thermal compensation based on a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is presented. Changes in the RH are transduced to the FBG properties by an ORMOCER coating. The cross sensitivity to temperature is compensated by inscribing the Bragg grating in a highly birefringent fiber and using the individual Bragg peaks of each polarization direction for separation (discrimination) of temperature and humidity influences.