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Assessing the detection of floating plastic litter with advanced remote sensing technologies in a hydrodynamic test facility
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Researchers tested microwave and optical remote sensing technologies in a large-scale wave tank to assess their ability to detect floating plastic litter, finding that X- and Ku-band microwave sensors with VV polarization could reliably identify plastics at concentrations as low as 1 item per square meter, supporting the development of global plastic pollution monitoring systems.
Remote sensing technologies have the potential to support monitoring of floating plastic litter in aquatic environments. An experimental campaign was carried out in a large-scale hydrodynamic test facility to explore the detectability of floating plastics in ocean waves, comparing and contrasting different microwave and optical remote sensing technologies. The extensive experiments revealed that detection of plastics was feasible with microwave measurement techniques using X and Ku-bands with VV polarization at a plastic threshold concentration of 1 item/m2 or 1-10 g/m2. The optical measurements further revealed that spectral and polarization properties in the visible and infrared spectrum had diagnostic information unique to the floating plastics. This assessment presents a crucial step towards enabling the detection of aquatic plastics using advanced remote sensing technologies. We demonstrate that remote sensing has the potential for global targeting of plastic litter hotspots, which is needed for supporting effective clean-up efforts and scientific evidence-based policy making.
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On advances, challenges and potentials of remote sensing image analysis in marine debris and suspected plastics monitoring
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This review evaluates the current state of satellite and aerial remote sensing for detecting marine plastic debris, noting that while progress has been made using optical and hyperspectral imaging, significant challenges remain including low detection resolution for small particles, confusion with other floating materials, and the need for better machine learning algorithms. The paper is relevant to the microplastics field as large-scale monitoring tools are needed to track plastic pollution distribution and inform cleanup and policy efforts, though direct detection of microplastics (<5 mm) from orbit remains largely out of reach with current technology.
Detection of exogenous floating marine debris: an overview of techniques associated with remote sensing
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This review surveyed remote sensing techniques for detecting floating marine debris including plastic litter, identifying current capabilities, limitations, and research gaps. The paper calls for development of a spectral reference library for marine debris to improve detection accuracy from satellite and aerial platforms.
Advancing floating macroplastic detection from space using hyperspectral imagery
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Researchers evaluated the use of hyperspectral satellite and airborne imagery to detect floating plastic debris in rivers and oceans, addressing major challenges related to plastic spectral properties in field conditions. Remote sensing tools for plastic detection are important for large-scale monitoring of the macro-scale plastic that eventually becomes microplastics.
Emerging Technologies for Remote Sensing of Floating and Submerged Plastic Litter
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This review evaluates emerging remote sensing technologies for detecting floating and submerged plastic litter in marine environments, including LiDAR, thermal infrared, radar, and multi-angle polarimetry. Researchers found that no single technology can detect all types of marine plastic under all conditions, and that combining multiple sensing approaches offers the best results. The study proposes a common vocabulary across disciplines and calls for more research on how different plastics interact with detection signals.
Assessment of marine litter through remote sensing: recent approaches and future goals
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This review classified remote sensing approaches for detecting marine litter — including satellite, aircraft, and drone platforms with optical, infrared, and radar sensors — finding that few studies had reached operational status and that detecting small or submerged litter remains a major technical challenge.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.