Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Object Detection of Macroplastic Waste Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Urban Canal

Researchers developed and tested an unmanned aerial vehicle-based system for detecting macroplastic waste along riverbanks and beaches using object detection algorithms. The system achieved reliable detection performance and offers a scalable tool for large-area plastic litter surveys.

2024 Ecological Engineering & Environmental Technology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Mini Uav-based Litter Detection on River Banks

Researchers developed a drone-based litter detection system combining high-resolution mapping, deep learning object detection, and vision-based localization that locates riverbank litter with decimeter-level accuracy, enabling automated monitoring of plastic pollution in urban waterway areas.

2023 ISPRS annals of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Automatic detection and quantification of floating marine macro-litter in aerial images: Introducing a novel deep learning approach connected to a web application in R

Researchers developed a convolutional neural network-based algorithm to automatically detect and quantify floating marine macro-litter in aerial images, training it on 3,723 images and integrating it into a web application for practical monitoring use.

2021 Environmental Pollution 100 citations
Article Tier 2

Targeting Plastics: Machine Learning Applied to Litter Detection in Aerial Multispectral Images

Researchers applied machine learning to aerial multispectral images for automated detection of plastic litter in natural areas, demonstrating that combining spectral data with classification algorithms can effectively identify and monitor plastic waste pollution.

2022 Remote Sensing 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Quantifying Marine Macro Litter Abundance on a Sandy Beach Using Unmanned Aerial Systems and Object-Oriented Machine Learning Methods

Researchers developed an object-oriented machine learning classification strategy using unmanned aerial system imagery to automatically identify and quantify marine macro litter on sandy beaches, comparing three automated methods against manual counts. The UAS-based approach demonstrated capacity for scalable, cost-effective beach litter monitoring to support coastal pollution surveillance programs.

2020 Remote Sensing 82 citations
Article Tier 2

Design of an Urban Domestic Waste Landfill Based on Aerial Image Segmentation and Ecological Restoration Theory

This paper proposes a method combining aerial image segmentation with ecological restoration principles to design better urban landfills. Improved landfill design reduces plastic waste leakage into surrounding environments, where it can fragment into microplastics that enter waterways.

2023 Applied Sciences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Use of UAVs and Deep Learning for Beach Litter Monitoring

Researchers developed an autonomous beach litter monitoring pipeline using UAV drone surveys combined with a YOLOv5 deep learning object detection algorithm trained on footage from Malta, Gozo, and the Red Sea coast. The system achieved a mean average precision (mAP50-95) of 0.252 across all litter classes and incorporated geolocation and digital elevation model data to support future autonomous retrieval robots.

2022 Electronics 19 citations
Article Tier 2

UAV Approach for Detecting Plastic Marine Debris on the Beach: A Case Study in the Po River Delta (Italy)

UAV imaging was used to detect and map anthropogenic marine debris on beaches in the Po River Delta, Italy, testing different image processing strategies and demonstrating that centimeter-scale spatial resolution UAV surveys can efficiently locate macroplastics before they degrade into harder-to-remove microplastics.

2021 Drones 53 citations
Article Tier 2

A Deep Learning Model for Automatic Plastic Mapping Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Data

Researchers applied a deep learning semantic segmentation model (ResUNet50 based on U-Net architecture) to UAV orthophotos to automatically map floating plastic debris, achieving F1-scores of 0.86-0.92 for specific plastic types including oriented polystyrene, nylon, and PET. Classification accuracy decreased with lower spatial resolution, with 4 mm resolution providing optimal performance for distinguishing plastic types.

2020 Remote Sensing 94 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection of Waste Plastics in the Environment: Application of Copernicus Earth Observation Data

Researchers developed a machine learning classifier using free Copernicus satellite data to detect plastic waste — including greenhouses, tyres, and waste sites — in both aquatic and terrestrial environments, achieving high accuracy and enabling low-cost large-scale plastic pollution mapping.

2022 Remote Sensing 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Designing Unmanned Aerial Survey Monitoring Program to Assess Floating Litter Contamination

Researchers tested drone-based aerial surveys with high-resolution cameras as a cost-effective method for monitoring floating litter contamination in coastal waters, comparing manual counting, automated detection, and modeling approaches to optimize survey design.

2022 Remote Sensing 20 citations
Article Tier 2

A Proposed Technology Solution for Preventing Marine Littering Based on Uavs and Iot Cloud-based Data Analytics

This paper proposes a technological solution using unmanned aerial vehicles and automated collection systems to prevent marine littering at coastal hotspots. The approach aims to intercept plastic waste before it enters the ocean and breaks down into microplastics.

2019 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Aquatic Trash Detection and Classification: a Machine Learning and Deep Learning Perspective

This review examines machine learning and deep learning approaches for detecting and classifying aquatic trash in waterways, evaluating how computer vision algorithms trained on underwater and surface imagery can automate pollution monitoring for faster, more scalable ocean cleanup.

2025 International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science
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

Cluster Mapping of Waste Exposure Using DBSCAN Approach: Study of Spatial Patterns and Potential Distribution in Bantul Regency

Researchers used spatial clustering analysis to map waste accumulation hotspots in the Bantul Regency of Indonesia, where landfill capacity has been repeatedly exceeded. The study identified clustered patterns of waste buildup near markets and collection points, information that could help local governments target interventions to reduce long-term microplastic contamination risks from mismanaged waste.

2024 JOIV International Journal on Informatics Visualization 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessment of Household Solid Waste Generation and Composition by Building Type in Da Nang, Vietnam

A study of household solid waste in Da Nang, Vietnam combined satellite imagery and field surveys to measure waste generation and composition by building type. The findings provide a practical method for cities to better understand and manage their waste streams.

2019 Resources 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhancing Waste Management with a Deep Learning-based Automatic Garbage Classifier

This paper is not about microplastics; it presents a deep learning convolutional neural network system for automatically classifying garbage by material type to improve waste sorting efficiency and reduce the labor burden of manual waste management.

2023 International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Use of Mobile Autonomous Systems for Pollution Control of Inland Water Bodies

Researchers examined the use of mobile autonomous aerial and floating systems for monitoring and controlling pollution in inland water bodies, including detection of illegally dumped construction and household waste that contributes to microplastic and groundwater contamination. The study analyzes existing practices and proposes improvements for using drones and autonomous surface vehicles to enable early detection of unregulated dumping with minimal resources.

2025 Open Access Journal of Waste Management & Xenobiotics
Article Tier 2

Mapping marine debris hotspots on Boa Vista Island, Cabo Verde

Researchers used drone-based aerial imaging and sand sampling to quantify and map marine debris accumulation on beaches of Boa Vista Island, Cabo Verde. Debris hotspots were identified on eastern-facing beaches exposed to Atlantic currents, with most plastics being non-local in origin and confirming that oceanic transport is the dominant delivery mechanism to these remote islands.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 2 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

Coastal Marine Debris Detection and Density Mapping With Very High Resolution Satellite Imagery

Researchers used high-resolution satellite imagery combined with machine learning to detect and map coastal marine debris density in southern Japan, finding that satellite-based methods can estimate debris amounts and types on beaches with reasonable accuracy.

2022 IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection of Waste Plastics in the Environment: Application of Copernicus Earth Observation data

Researchers used free Copernicus Earth observation satellite data and machine learning to detect waste plastic in marine and terrestrial environments at a large scale. The classifier was trained on Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data and performed well for detecting larger plastic accumulations. Satellite-based detection could enable continuous, wide-area monitoring of plastic pollution at a fraction of the cost of ground surveys.

2022 Preprints.org 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Implementing Edge Based Object Detection For Microplastic Debris

This study developed an edge-based object detection algorithm for identifying microplastic debris in images. Automated detection methods are important for scaling up microplastic monitoring, particularly in field settings where manual visual inspection of thousands of particles is impractical.

2023 arXiv (Cornell University) 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Projector deep feature extraction-based garbage image classification model using underwater images

Researchers developed a deep learning model using projector-based feature extraction to classify underwater garbage images, achieving high accuracy in identifying marine plastic debris and other waste types for automated ocean pollution monitoring.

2024 Multimedia Tools and Applications 8 citations