Embodiments of systems and methods for characterizing multiphase flow (MPF) of fluid and enhancing measuring and monitoring of a full range of water cut in a portion of a pipe for oil-related operations are provided. An embodiment of a system can include a flow director to direct the MPF between paired wide-band near-infrared (NIR) emitters and detectors electrically coupled to signal conditioning, processing, and characterizing modules to determine absorption and scattering of MPF and define and display MPF characteristics for measuring and monitoring in oil-related operations.