Abstract
This study addresses long-term sea level variability in Macaronesia from a holistic perspective using all available instrumental records in the region, including a dense network of GPS continuous stations, tide gauges and satellite observations. A detailed assessment of vertical movement from GPS time series underlines the influence of the complex volcano-tectonic setting of the Macaronesian islands in local uplift/subsidence. Relative sea level for the region is spatially highly variable, ranging from -1.1 to 5.1 mm yr(-1). Absolute sea level from satellite altimetry exhibits consistent trends in the Macaronesia, with a mean value of 3.0 +/- 0.5 mm yr(-1). Typically, sea level trends from tide gauge records corrected for vertical movement using the estimates from GPS time series are lower than uncorrected estimates. The agreement between satellite altimetry and tide gauge trends corrected for vertical land varies substantially from island to island. Trends derived from the combination of GPS and tide gauge observations differ by less than 1 mm yr(-1) with respect to absolute sea level trends from satellite altimetry for 56 per cent of the stations, despite the heterogeneity in length of both GPS and tide gauge series, and the influence of volcanic-tectonic processes affecting the position of some GPS stations.

Abstract
This work addresses the short-term variability of gamma radiation measured continuously at the Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) facility located in the Graciosa island (Azores, 39N; 28W), a fixed site of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement programme (ARM). The temporal variability of gamma radiation is characterized by occasional anomalies over a slowly-varying signal. Sharp peaks lasting typically 2-4 h are coincident with heavy precipitation and result from the scavenging effect of precipitation bringing radon progeny from the upper levels to the ground surface. However the connection between gamma variability and precipitation is not straightforward as a result of the complex interplay of factors such as the precipitation intensity, the PBL height, the cloud's base height and thickness, or the air mass origin and atmospheric concentration of sub-micron aerosols, which influence the scavenging processes and therefore the concentration of radon progeny. Convective precipitation associated with cumuliform clouds forming under conditions of warming of the ground relative to the air does not produce enhancements in gamma radiation, since the drop growing process is dominated by the fast accretion of liquid water, resulting in the reduction of the concentration of radionuclides by dilution. Events of convective precipitation further contribute to a reduction in gamma counts by inhibiting radon release from the soil surface and by attenuating gamma rays from all gamma-emitting elements on the ground. Anomalies occurring in the absence of precipitation are found to be associated with a diurnal cycle of maximum gamma counts before sunrise decreasing to a minimum in the evening, which are observed in conditions of thermal stability and very weak winds enabling the build-up of near surface radon progeny during the night.

Abstract

Abstract
Long period fiber gratings (LPFGs) were used to monitor the characteristics of copper (Cu) thin films when annealed in air atmosphere up to similar to 680 degrees C. The wavelength and the optical power shift of the resonant bands of the LPFGs when coated with the Cu thin films, were measured as a function of the annealing temperature, and were found to exhibit a different evolution comparing to a bare LPFGs. Thin films of Cu deposited on quartz (SiO2) substrates were annealed and analyzed by XRD, SEM/EDS and Raman spectroscopy, allowing to identify the formation of two distinct oxide phases at different temperatures, cuprous (Cu2O-cuprite) and cupric (CuO-tenorite) oxides, respectively. The observed features of the resonant bands of the LPFGs were found to be associated with the Cu oxide phase transitions, indicating the possibility of using LPFGs to monitor, in real time, the oxidation states of Cu thin films by following specific characteristics of the attenuation bands. In addition, LPFGs over coated with the two distinct oxidation phases of Cu were characterized for refractive index sensing in the range between 1.300 to 1.600, leading to the conclusion that the sensitivity to the refractive index of the surrounding medium of Cu coated LPFGs sensing systems can be temperature tuned.

Abstract
This work reports the theoretical investigation of optical fiber surface plasmon resonance sensors incorporating bimetallic layer combinations. Different metals like silver, gold, copper, and aluminum are considered to investigate the refractometric sensing properties of tapered and tip optrode phase-interrogated optical fiber plasmonic sensor structures. It is shown that the gold-silver combination, coupled to a tip optrode layout, is capable of maximizing the resolution and operation range of these sensing structures for environmental refractive index measurement.

Abstract
We investigate spectroscopic imaging ellipsometry for monitoring biomolecules at surfaces of nanoparticles. For the modeling of polarimetric light scattering off surface-adsorbed core-shell nanoparticles, we employ an extension of the exact solution for the scattering by particles near a substrate presented by Bobbert and Vlieger, which offers insight beyond that of the Maxwell-Garnett effective medium approximation. Varying thickness and refractive index of a model bio-organic shell results in systematic and characteristic changes in spectroscopic parameters ? and ?. The salient features and trends in modeled spectra are in qualitative agreement with experimental data for antibody immobilization and fibronectin biorecognition at surfaces of gold nanoparticles on a silicon substrate, but achieving a full quantitative agreement will require including additional effects, such as nanoparticle-substrate interactions, into the model. © 2017 Optical Society of America.