Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Development of Drifting Debris Detection System using Deep Learning on Coastal Cleanup

Researchers developed a deep learning-based system to detect litter on beaches using images and automated object recognition. Efficient litter detection tools could help coastal cleanup programs identify and remove plastic debris before it breaks down into microplastics.

2023 Proceedings of International Conference on Artificial Life and Robotics
Article Tier 2

Computer vision segmentation model—deep learning for categorizing microplastic debris

Researchers developed a deep learning computer vision model for automatically categorizing beached microplastic debris from images. The segmentation model was trained to identify and classify different types of microplastic particles, reducing the need for time-consuming manual counting and laboratory analysis. The study suggests that automated image-based detection could enable more scalable and consistent monitoring of microplastic pollution along coastlines.

2024 Frontiers in Environmental Science 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection and assessment of marine litter in an uninhabited island, Arabian Gulf: A case study with conventional and machine learning approaches

Researchers surveyed marine litter on a remote Arabian Gulf island after a large cleanup, then trained a YOLO-v5 deep learning model on 10,400 beach images to automatically detect debris, achieving 90% detection accuracy and demonstrating that windward shores accumulate significantly more litter from neighboring countries.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Deep-Feature-Based Approach to Marine Debris Classification

This study applied deep learning to classify marine debris from images, demonstrating that feature-based neural network approaches can effectively distinguish plastic types and other debris categories to support automated ocean monitoring.

2021 Applied Sciences 57 citations
Article Tier 2

Implementation of YOLOv5 for Detection and Classification of Microplastics and Microorganisms in Marine Environment

Researchers trained a YOLOv5 deep learning model on marine environment images and demonstrated it can accurately detect and classify both microplastics and microorganisms in real time, offering a memory-efficient tool for automated environmental monitoring.

2023 7 citations
Article Tier 2

GoogLeNet-Based Deep Learning Framework for Underwater Microplastic Classification in Marine Environments

Researchers trained a GoogLeNet deep learning model on underwater images to classify microplastics into four categories, achieving strong classification performance for primary microplastics, secondary microplastics, non-microplastic debris, and marine biota in turbid coastal waters.

2025
Article Tier 2

Deep Learning Approaches for Detection and Classification of Microplastics in Water for Clean Water Management

Researchers applied dual deep learning models (YOLOv8, YOLOv11, and several CNN architectures) to detect and classify microplastics in water, finding that these AI approaches could accurately identify plastic types across both aquatic and non-aquatic datasets.

2025
Article Tier 2

Automatic Identification and Classification of Marine Microplastic Pollution Based on Deep Learning and Spectral Imaging Technology

Researchers developed an AI system combining deep learning with multispectral imaging to automatically identify and classify marine microplastics, using a feature-selection method called ReliefF to reduce noise in complex ocean samples. The approach achieved high accuracy and offers a scalable solution for large-scale ocean microplastic monitoring that outperforms traditional manual inspection.

2025 Traitement du signal
Article Tier 2

AI – Driven Marine Debris Detection for Ocean Conservation

Researchers developed an AI-driven marine debris detection system using the YOLOv8 deep learning model trained to identify plastic waste in challenging underwater conditions including low visibility and complex backgrounds. The system aims to provide scalable, automated monitoring to support ocean conservation and guide debris removal efforts.

2025
Article Tier 2

Enhancing marine debris identification with convolutional neural networks

A deep learning model was developed to identify and classify marine debris components captured by underwater remotely operated vehicle imagery, addressing the challenge of widely distributed ocean waste including microplastics. The convolutional neural network demonstrated improved accuracy for debris detection and classification compared to conventional image analysis methods.

2024 Journal of Emerging Investigators 1 citations
Article Tier 2

A Deep Learning Approach for Microplastic Segmentation in Microscopic Images

Researchers developed a deep learning model for automated segmentation and classification of microplastics in microscopic images, identifying five distinct categories including fibers, fragments, spheres, foam, and film. The model achieved high accuracy while maintaining low computational requirements, making it suitable for high-throughput deployment in environmental monitoring. The study offers a tool that could help overcome the measurement bottleneck in microplastic characterization for toxicological and risk assessment studies.

2025 Toxics 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Efficient and accurate microplastics identification and segmentation in urban waters using convolutional neural networks

Researchers developed convolutional neural network models for efficiently identifying and segmenting microplastics in urban water samples from southern China. The study found that deep learning approaches can significantly reduce the time and labor required for microplastic identification compared to manual methods, offering a scalable tool for monitoring microplastic pollution in urban waterways.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic Waste on Water Surfaces Detection Using Convolutional Neural Networks

Researchers evaluated state-of-the-art convolutional neural network architectures for automatically detecting plastic waste on water surfaces, training models on a dataset representing four categories of plastic litter including plastic bags. The study benchmarked multiple CNN object detection models following extensive dataset preprocessing to determine the most effective approach for automated plastic pollution identification.

2024
Article Tier 2

Deep Learning-Based Image Recognition System for Automated Microplastic Detection and Water Pollution Monitoring

This study developed a deep learning image recognition system to automate the detection and classification of microplastics from microscopy images of water samples. The system achieved high accuracy across particle types and sizes, offering a scalable and less labor-intensive alternative to manual microscopy for large-scale water pollution monitoring.

2025 Artificial Intelligence Systems and Its Applications
Article Tier 2

Identification and detection of microplastic particles in marine environment by using improved faster R–CNN model

Researchers developed an improved Faster R-CNN deep learning model for identifying and detecting microplastic particles in marine environments. The model achieved an average detection confidence of 99% and successfully distinguished polystyrene microplastics from mixed particle suspensions across varying backgrounds and conditions, demonstrating a promising automated approach for monitoring microplastic pollution.

2023 Journal of Environmental Management 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Advancing Plastic Pollution Monitoring Through Enhanced Protocols and Deep Learning: applicability and effectiveness in real-world scenarios (Le Stang, France)

Researchers developed and tested a deep learning image analysis tool to enhance monitoring of beach plastic pollution, specifically targeting meso- and large microplastics at the wrack line in Brittany, France. The AI model achieved high detection accuracy under real-world conditions and integrated with established French national monitoring protocols, demonstrating feasibility for scalable automated beach litter surveillance.

2025
Article Tier 2

WaveFilter: Advanced Imaging for Marine Microplastic Monitoring

This paper describes WaveFilter, a deep-learning system based on the YOLOv5 model trained to automatically detect microplastics in images of aquatic environments, achieving about 80% precision in identifying plastic particles even against complex backgrounds. The model is compact enough for real-time deployment, offering a faster and more scalable alternative to tedious manual counting methods. Automated detection tools like this could make large-scale marine microplastic monitoring more practical and consistent.

2025 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Litter segmentation with LOTS dataset

Not a microplastics paper — this computer science paper presents a machine learning benchmark for detecting and segmenting beach litter (including plastic debris) in sand using deep learning image segmentation models, contributing tools that could help automate coastal pollution monitoring.

2023
Article Tier 2

Automated Plastic Waste Detection Using Advanced Deep Learning Frameworks

Researchers developed a deep learning system using advanced neural network frameworks for automated detection and classification of plastic waste from images, achieving high accuracy in identifying multiple plastic types to support environmental monitoring and waste sorting.

2025
Article Tier 2

Deep learning based approach for automated characterization of large marine microplastic particles

A deep learning approach using Mask R-CNN was trained on 3,000 images of marine microplastic particles to automatically locate, classify, and segment particles by shape categories including fiber, fragment, pellet, and rod. The model achieved high accuracy and outperformed manual visual inspection for characterizing large marine microplastic datasets.

2022 Marine Environmental Research 47 citations