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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Comparative Analysis of Riverine Plastic Pollution Combining Citizen Science, Remote Sensing and Water Quality Monitoring Techniques
ClearComparative Analysis of Riverine Plastic Pollution Combining Citizen Science, Remote Sensing and Water Quality Monitoring Techniques
A multi-method study combining citizen science litter surveys, remote sensing, and water quality monitoring characterized plastic pollution along the Tisza River, one of Europe's most plastic-polluted rivers, spanning five countries.
Insights into suspended sediment and microplastic budget of a lowland river: integrating in-situ measurements, Sentinel-2 imagery, and machine learning
Researchers combined river measurements, satellite imagery, and machine learning to track how much microplastic the Tisza River in Hungary carries downstream each day. They found that flood events spike microplastic transport five-fold, meaning a small number of high-water days drive the majority of plastic particles reaching the sea.
Spatial distribution of microplastics in the fluvial sediments of a transboundary river – A case study of the Tisza River in Central Europe
This case study mapped microplastic distribution in the fluvial sediments of the transboundary Tisza River in Central Europe, finding that microplastic abundance varied with land use, human population density, and hydrological conditions across national borders.
Machine learning-based detection and mapping of riverine litter utilizing Sentinel-2 imagery
Researchers used satellite imagery and machine learning to detect and map litter accumulation in the Tisza River, Hungary, finding that dams are major hotspots and that flood events drive litter transport. While models performed well in controlled tests, real-world accuracy was moderate, highlighting the challenge of using satellite data to monitor riverine plastic pollution at scale. This matters because rivers are a primary pathway for plastic and microplastic debris reaching the ocean.
Comparison of the macro-, meso- and microplastic pollution in French riverbanks and beaches using citizen science with schoolchildren
Researchers conducted a citizen science initiative with French schoolchildren to compare macro-, meso-, and microplastic pollution across 86 riverbank and beach sites, finding that riverbanks accumulated distinct plastic assemblages compared to beaches. The study demonstrated that schoolchildren can generate reliable comparative litter data, and highlighted rivers as underrepresented yet critical plastic transport pathways to the ocean.
Comparison of macrolitter and meso- and microplastic pollution on French riverbanks and coastal beaches using citizen science with schoolchildren
A citizen science project with 3,113 French schoolchildren sampled 81 riverbanks and 66 coastal beaches, collecting 55,986 plastic pieces, and found that riverbanks had comparable plastic pollution levels to beaches, highlighting rivers as underrecognized plastic accumulation zones.
Exploring the abundance and characteristics of litter in Lithuanian riversides: a citizen science approach
Using citizen science litter surveys on Lithuanian riversides, researchers documented litter composition, abundance, and spatial patterns, finding plastic dominates riverbank litter and that proximity to populated areas predicts higher accumulation.
Schoolchildren discover hotspots of floating plastic litter in rivers using a large-scale collaborative approach
A large-scale citizen science project involving schoolchildren detected microplastic hotspots in rivers across multiple European countries, demonstrating that collaborative monitoring can generate spatially extensive data on riverine plastic pollution.
High spatiotemporal resolution analysis on suspended sediment and microplastic transport of a lowland river
Researchers conducted dense spatial and time-series monitoring of microplastic and suspended sediment transport along Hungary's Tisza River, finding that microplastic concentrations closely tracked sediment levels during floods but diverged during low water. Most detected particles were fibers likely from wastewater, and the data showed that floods, tributaries, and river dams all influence how microplastics move through river systems.
Spatial Variations in Microfiber Transport in a Transnational River Basin
Researchers conducted repeated measurements of microfiber transport at 26 sites along the 946-km Tisza River across three countries in 2021 and 2022, finding average concentrations of 19 items/m3 that increased 17% year-on-year, with the most polluted sections corresponding to areas with inadequate wastewater treatment in Ukraine, Hungary, and Serbia.
Plastic Hotspot Mapping in Urban Water Systems
A simple citizen science method for mapping plastic hotspots in urban waterways was tested in two Dutch cities, finding similar average plastic densities but different spatial distributions. The study highlights the need for long-term monitoring to better understand how cities contribute to plastic pollution in rivers and oceans.
Significant regional disparities in riverine microplastics
Researchers built a comprehensive framework to compare microplastic pollution across 76 rivers spanning Asia, Europe, and Africa, revealing significant regional differences. Rivers in Asia tended to have higher microplastic concentrations than those in Europe, and land use patterns strongly influenced contamination levels. The study highlights the need for standardized methods to enable meaningful global comparisons of riverine microplastic pollution.
Microplastic Contamination of Fine-Grained Sediments and Its Environmental Driving Factors along a Lowland River: Three-Year Monitoring of the Tisza River and Central Europe
Researchers analyzed microplastic contamination in fine-grained river sediments over three years (2020-2022) along a large river system, examining environmental driving factors including hydrology, land use, and sediment transport dynamics. The study found that hydrological and geomorphological processes are key determinants of where microplastics accumulate and are remobilized.
Assessment of Different Sampling, Sample Preparation and Analysis Methods Addressing Microplastic Concentration and Transport in Medium and Large Rivers Based on Research in the Danube River Basin
Monitoring microplastics in rivers is hampered by the lack of standardized methods, making it difficult to compare results across studies. This research tested three common sampling approaches on the Danube River and its tributaries, finding that each method produced meaningfully different estimates of microplastic concentrations and transport. The results underscore the urgent need for agreed-upon protocols so that data from different countries and research groups can be reliably combined to track river-to-ocean plastic pollution.
Evaluation of riverine macro- and mesoplastic monitoring approaches.
This review evaluated and compared existing monitoring approaches for riverine macro- and mesoplastics, identifying key methodological inconsistencies that limit cross-study comparisons and calling for standardization to improve understanding of plastic transport and accumulation in freshwater river systems.
Microplastic clouds in rivers: spatiotemporal dynamics of microplastic pollution in a fluvial system
Researchers tracked microplastic concentrations along 750 kilometers of the Tisza River over three years, finding that floods flush stored sediments — and the microplastics trapped in them — downstream in distinct "clouds" of pollution. Average microplastic concentrations more than doubled from 2021 to 2023, underscoring that flood events dramatically accelerate microplastic transport in river systems.
Improving Water Quality Through the Collaboration of BrantaSae, RIVER, and Citizen Science in River Cleaning Actions
Researchers documented a community-based river cleanup initiative in Indonesia that combined citizen science with systematic waste categorization. Analysis of collected waste revealed that plastic was the predominant material, with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) being the most common polymer type. The study underscores the value of community engagement in both environmental cleanup and generating scientific data about the scale of plastic pollution in waterways.
Citizen Science for Monitoring Plastic Pollution from Source to Sea: A Systematic Review of Methodologies, Best Practices, and Challenges
This systematic review examines how citizen science programs track plastic pollution from land to sea. The research found that while public participation greatly expands data collection, inconsistent methods and data quality issues limit the scientific usefulness of the results. Better-designed citizen science programs could help communities monitor and respond to the microplastic pollution in their local environments.
Improving monitoring, analysis and reporting to assess plastic pollution: a matter of comparability
This review examines two decades of microplastic monitoring in aquatic systems, identifying persistent challenges in harmonizing methodologies for sampling, analysis, and reporting that hinder data comparison, and proposing improvements to create comparable datasets for assessing plastic pollution from river basins to the ocean.
Occurrence of microplastic pollution in rivers globally: Driving factors of distribution and ecological risk assessment
Researchers constructed a global dataset of microplastic pollution across 862 river water and 445 sediment samples, identifying population density, GDP, and plastic waste generation as key driving factors of riverine microplastic distribution and ecological risk.
Have You Ever Seen a Microplastic? A Collaborative High School–Academia Approach for Identification, Quantification and Raising Awareness of Microplastics in a River Crossing Urban Area
Researchers designed a high school–university collaboration where students collected water samples from an urban river, identified microplastics by microscopy, and contributed to local pollution mapping — demonstrating that student-led citizen science can meaningfully advance microplastic monitoring while raising environmental awareness.
Determining global distribution of microplastics by combining citizen science and in-depth case studies
This study combined citizen science sampling data with in-depth field studies to build a better global picture of microplastic distribution. The approach shows how large-scale volunteer monitoring can extend spatial coverage far beyond what professional researchers can achieve alone.
High-Resolution Mapping of Japanese Microplastic and Macroplastic Emissions from the Land into the Sea
Researchers developed a high-resolution method to map microplastic and macroplastic emissions from Japanese river catchments into the sea, using correlations between observed river concentrations and basin characteristics such as urban area ratio and population density to generate nationwide plastic emission estimates.
Mountains of plastic: Mismanaged plastic waste along the Carpathian watercourses
Researchers mapped mismanaged plastic waste along 175,675 km of Carpathian waterways using high-resolution databases, finding that 81% of river lengths are significantly affected, with the worst hotspots concentrated in Romania, Hungary, and Ukraine, and that nationally protected areas paradoxically have higher plastic waste loads than internationally protected zones.