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Assessing the detection of floating plastic litter with advanced remote sensing technologies in a hydrodynamic test facility
Summary
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.