Method and system for performance monitoring in an optical network

A method, and optical network management system, including detecting, in an electrical domain, a change in performance of an optical transmission system, and determining a cause of the change based on data associated with an optical performance parameter. The data is collected from optical network elements that have a value for the optical performance parameter exceeding a threshold. Another embodiment includes an electrical monitoring device, including outputting an electrical signal that indicates a degradation in the performance, and transmitting a command to the optical network elements to collect the data. A further embodiment includes an optical network element, including transmitting an optical signal to the electronic monitoring point that converts the optical signal to the electrical signal, which is examined to detect the degradation, and transmitting the data to the network management system, if the value exceeds the threshold value.