Abstract
In hydroponic cultivation, monitoring and quantification of nutrients is of paramount importance. Precision agriculture has an urgent need for measuring fertilization and plant nutrient uptake. Reliable, robust and accurate sensors for measuring nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are regarded as critical in this process. It is vital to understand nutrients’ interference; thusly, a Hoagland fertilizer solution-based orthogonal experimental design was deployed. Concentration ranges were varied in a target analyte-independent style, as follows: [N] = [103.17–554.85] ppm; [P] = [15.06–515.35] ppm; [K] = [113.78–516.45] ppm, by dilution from individual stock solutions. Quantitative results for N and K, and qualitative results for P were obtained.

Abstract
This work addresses the use of hyperspectral imaging systems for remote detection of marine litter concentrations in oceanic environments. The work consisted on mounting an off-the-shelf hyperspectral imaging system (400-2500 nm) in two aerial platforms: manned and unmanned, and performing data acquisition to develop AI methods capable of detecting marine litter concentrations at the water surface. We performed the campaigns at Porto Pim Bay, Fail Island, Azores, resorting to artificial targets built using marine litter samples. During this work, we also developed a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN-3D), using spatial and spectral information to evaluate deep learning methods to detect marine litter in an automated manner. Results show over 84% overall accuracy (OA) in the detection and classification of the different types of marine litter samples present in the artificial targets.

Abstract
In this work, we reviewed the most important achievements of INESC TEC related to the fabrication of long-period fiber gratings using the electric arc technique. We focused on the fabrication setup, the type of fiber used, and the effect of the fabrication parameters on the gratings' transmission spectra. The theory was presented, as well as a discussion on the mechanisms responsible for the formation of the gratings, supported by the measurement of the temperature reached by the fiber during an electric arc discharge.

Abstract
In this work, we review the most important achievements of INESC TEC related to the properties and applications of arc-induced long-period fiber gratings. The polarization dependence loss, the spectral behavior at temperatures ranging from cryogenic up to 1200 degrees C and under exposure to ultraviolet and gamma radiation is described. The dependence of gratings sensitivity on the fabrication parameters is discussed. Several applications in optical communications and sensing domains are referred.

Abstract
In this paper, we investigate modification of transmission spectra of long-period fiber grating structures with an acoustic shock front propagating along the fiber. We simulate transmission through inhomogeneous long-period fiber gratings, pi-shift and reflective pi-shift gratings deformed by an acoustic shock front. Coupled mode equations describing interaction of co-propagating modes in a long-period fiber grating structures with inhomogeneous deformation are used for the simulation. Two types of apodization are considered for the grating modulation amplitude, such as uniform and raised-cosine. We demonstrate how the transmission spectrum is produced by interference between the core and cladding modes coupled at several parts of the gratings having different periods. For the pi-shift long-period fiber grating having split spectral notch, the gap between the two dips becomes several times wider in the grating with the acoustic wave front than the gap in the unstrained grating. The behavior of reflective long-period fiber gratings depends on the magnitude of the phase shift near the reflective surface: an additional dip is formed in the 0-shift grating and the short-wavelength dip disappears in the pi-shift grating.

Abstract
In this work, we review the most important achievements of an INESC TEC long-period-grating-based fiber optic Michelson and Mach-Zehnder configuration modal interferometer with coherence addressing and heterodyne interrogation as a sensing structure for measuring environmental refractive index and temperature. The theory for Long Period Grating (LPG) interferometers and coherence addressing and heterodyne interrogation is presented. To increase the sensitivity to external refractive index and temperature, several LPG interferometers parameters are studied, including order of cladding mode, a reduction of the fiber diameter, different type of fiber, cavity length and the antisymmetric nature of cladding modes.