Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Detection of Microplastics Using Machine Learning

Researchers reviewed and demonstrated machine learning approaches for detecting and classifying microplastics in environmental samples, finding that automated image analysis and spectral classification methods can improve the speed and accuracy of microplastic monitoring compared to manual methods.

2019 30 citations
Article Tier 2

A Combination of Machine Learning Algorithms for Marine Plastic Litter Detection Exploiting Hyperspectral PRISMA Data

Researchers applied a combination of machine learning algorithms to hyperspectral satellite imagery from the PRISMA satellite to detect marine plastic litter along coastlines and ocean surfaces. The multi-algorithm approach improved detection accuracy over single-model methods and demonstrated the potential for satellite-based monitoring of ocean plastic pollution at scale.

2022 Remote Sensing 46 citations
Article Tier 2

Random Forest-based River Plastic Detection with a Handheld Multispectral Camera

Researchers used a handheld multispectral camera and machine learning (random forest algorithm) to detect plastic pollution in rivers from above. The approach offers a faster, more accessible method for monitoring plastic debris in waterways before it breaks down into microplastics.

2021 ˜The œinternational archives of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences/International archives of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences 11 citations
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

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

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

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

Automatic Detection and Identification of Floating Marine Debris Using Multispectral Satellite Imagery

Researchers developed a machine learning approach using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and extreme gradient boosting to automatically detect and distinguish floating plastic debris from other marine materials like driftwood and seaweed.

2023 IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 43 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

The supporting role of Artificial Intelligence and Machine/Deep Learning in monitoring the marine environment: a bibliometric analysis

This review examines the supporting role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in monitoring and managing plastic pollution, covering applications in remote sensing, image-based plastic detection, and predictive modeling of plastic fate. The authors identify deep learning for image classification and satellite-based detection as the most rapidly advancing AI applications in plastic pollution science.

2024 Ecological Questions 9 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

A Machine Learning Approach To Microplastic Detection And Quantification In Aquatic Environments

This study developed a machine learning approach for detecting and quantifying microplastics in aquatic environments, demonstrating that automated image analysis can improve throughput and accuracy compared to manual microscopic counting for environmental monitoring applications.

2025 International Journal of Environmental Sciences
Article Tier 2

A comparison of machine learning techniques for the detection of microplastics

This German-language study compared machine learning algorithms for classifying microplastics based on their infrared spectra, finding that several methods could reliably distinguish polymer types. Automating microplastic identification through machine learning could greatly increase the speed and throughput of environmental monitoring.

2020 reposiTUm (TU Wien)
Article Tier 2

Towards Detecting Floating Objects on a Global Scale with Learned Spatial Features Using Sentinel 2

Researchers developed a machine learning approach using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery to detect floating plastic debris and marine litter on a global scale, demonstrating that learned spatial features can improve detection of large aggregations of floating objects on water surfaces.

2021 ISPRS annals of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences 28 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

Spectroscopic Identification of Environmental Microplastics

Scientists developed a machine learning classifier that identifies the chemical type of environmental microplastic samples from spectral data with over 97% accuracy, even for samples from unknown sources. Automated spectral identification tools are critical for scaling up microplastic monitoring across large environmental datasets.

2021 IEEE Access 16 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

Machine Learning Method for Microplastic Identification Using a Combination of Machine Learning and Raman Spectroscopy

Researchers developed a machine learning method for identifying microplastics using a combination of multiple spectroscopic techniques, improving classification accuracy beyond single-method approaches and enabling automated polymer identification.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Application of hyperspectral imaging and machine learning for the automatic identification of microplastics on sandy beaches

Hyperspectral imaging combined with machine learning was applied to identify and classify microplastics on sandy beach surfaces, offering a faster and more scalable alternative to conventional spectroscopic analysis for large-area environmental monitoring.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Spectral Classification Using Deep Learning with Denoising and Dimensionality Reduction

Researchers developed a deep learning approach for microplastic spectral classification that incorporates denoising and dimensionality reduction steps, improving the accuracy of identifying and classifying microplastic polymer types from spectral data in marine ecosystems.

2024 1 citations