There is provided a thermal sensing fiber grid, including a plurality of rows and columns of thermal sensing fibers, each of which includes a semiconducting element that has a fiber length and that is characterized by a bandgap energy corresponding to a selected operational temperature range of the fiber in which there can be produced a change in thermally-excited electronic charge carrier population in the semiconducting element in response to a temperature change in the selected temperature range. There is included at least one pair of conducting electrodes in contact with the semiconducting element along the fiber length, and an insulator along the fiber length. An electronic circuit is provided for and connected to each thermal sensing fiber for producing an indication of thermal sensing fiber grid coordinates of a change in ambient temperature.