Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

New Workflow of Plastic-Mulched Farmland Mapping using Multi-Temporal Sentinel-2 data

Researchers used multi-temporal satellite imagery to map plastic-mulched farmland in China, providing a tool for monitoring the environmental risk of agricultural plastic use. Plastic mulch is a significant source of microplastic contamination in agricultural soils when film residues break down over time.

2019 Remote Sensing 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic film residues on cropland: monitoring soil contamination through optical remote sensing

Researchers used optical remote sensing to monitor plastic film residues on agricultural cropland, demonstrating that satellite-based methods can detect surface plastic contamination across large areas. The study provides a scalable approach for tracking agricultural plastic residues — a major secondary microplastic source in soils — without the labor intensity of field sampling.

2025
Article Tier 2

Time Series approach to map areas of Agricultural Plastic Waste generation

Researchers applied a time-series remote sensing approach to map the spatial distribution of agricultural plastic waste generation across extensive agricultural landscapes, using satellite imagery to detect plastic-mulched farmlands and other agri-plastics to address the lack of comprehensive plasticulture data needed for effective waste management and land-use policy.

2024 ISPRS annals of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences
Article Tier 2

Duration- and area-dependent influences of plastic film mulch on soil microplastics abundance

Researchers conducted a field campaign combined with remote sensing to investigate how the duration and coverage area of plastic film mulching affect microplastic abundance in agricultural soils in northern China's agro-pastoral ecotone, finding that microplastic concentrations ranged from 41.7 to 787.5 items per kilogram and positively correlated with mulching duration.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Cropland Microplastics in Xinjiang: Unveiling Distribution and Impact of Mulching Film Residues

This study assessed microplastic distribution and the contribution of agricultural mulching film residues across croplands in Xinjiang, China, finding widespread polyethylene microplastic contamination that correlates with mulch film use intensity and poses risks to soil health and food safety.

2024
Article Tier 2

Occurrence status of microplastics in main agricultural areas of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China

Agricultural soils in Xinjiang, China, were surveyed for microplastic contamination, revealing widespread presence in major farming regions where plastic mulch films and irrigation systems are heavily used. The study provides one of the first regional-scale assessments of microplastic pollution in this important agricultural area.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 55 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence characteristics, source analysis, and risk assessment of microplastics in agricultural soils: A case study on Shihezi Reclamation Area, Xinjiang, China

Microplastic occurrence was characterized in agricultural soils of the Shihezi Reclamation Area, Xinjiang — a region with decades of plastic film mulching — finding high-density PE and PP fragments as dominant types, with mulch film degradation as the primary source.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

Large scale detection of plastic covered crops using multispectral and SAR satellite data

Researchers used satellite imagery combining optical and radar data to detect large-scale plastic covering of agricultural crops across wide geographic areas. The remote sensing approach could help monitor plasticulture practices and track the potential for plastic debris to enter nearby ecosystems.

2023
Article Tier 2

Identification of Plastic Mulch in Cotton Fields Using UAV-Based Hyperspectral Data and Deep Learning Semantic Segmentation

Plastic mulch film is widely used in agriculture to improve crop yields, but residual plastic in fields contributes to soil microplastic contamination, and identifying where it remains after harvest is difficult at scale. This study used drone-mounted hyperspectral cameras combined with deep-learning image analysis to map plastic mulch coverage in cotton fields in China, achieving up to 80% accuracy in distinguishing plastic from soil and crop canopy. Accurate mapping of residual mulch is a critical first step toward targeted plastic removal and reducing the flow of agricultural microplastics into soil and water.

2026 Agronomy
Article Tier 2

Agricultural plastic mulching as a source of microplastics in the terrestrial environment

Researchers analyzed 384 soil samples from 19 Chinese provinces and found that macroplastic fragments were concentrated in agricultural fields with plastic mulch film use, providing large-scale field evidence linking agricultural mulching to terrestrial plastic contamination.

2020 Environmental Pollution 1205 citations
Article Tier 2

Contribution of mulch film to microplastics in agricultural soil and surface water in China

Researchers developed a framework to quantify how much agricultural mulch film contributes to microplastic contamination in farmland soil and surface water in China, measuring the ratio of mulch-derived particles to total microplastics from all sources.

2021 Environmental Pollution 119 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution In Agricultural Lands And Its Environmental Impact Assessed Through Remote Sensing

Researchers combined field sampling and remote sensing to assess microplastic pollution in agricultural soils across three Indian locations, finding microplastics in both surface and subsurface layers and correlating pollution levels with land use patterns detectable by satellite imagery.

2025 International Journal of Environmental Sciences
Article Tier 2

Microplastic contamination in cotton soils following long-term mulching: A field study for the Xinjiang production and construction corps in China

Researchers investigated microplastic accumulation across agricultural soils in Xinjiang, China — a major mulch film use region — finding that microplastic abundance positively correlates with mulching duration and that geographical and social factors drive north-south differences in contamination levels.

2025 Results in Engineering
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Accumulation in Agricultural Soils with Different Mulching Histories in Xinjiang, China

Researchers found that microplastic accumulation in agricultural soils of Xinjiang, China increases significantly with mulching history, with fields mulched for over 20 years containing substantially more microplastics across all soil layers.

2023 Sustainability 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Distribution of microplastics in mulched soil in Xinjiang, China

Researchers measured microplastic distribution in plastic-mulched farmland soils in Xinjiang, China, finding that plastic particles concentrate in the top soil layer where mulch films fragment. The dominant polymer found was polyethylene, consistent with the plastic mulch films widely used in agriculture across the region.

2021 International journal of agricultural and biological engineering 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in arid soils: Impact of different cropping systems (Altay, Xinjiang)

Researchers investigated microplastic contamination in farmland soils in an arid region of China, finding extremely high concentrations averaging over 52,000 particles per kilogram of soil. Polyethylene from plastic mulch film accounted for over 90% of the microplastics, with fields growing tall crops like sunflower and maize showing more contamination than potato fields. The study demonstrates that agricultural plastic mulch use is a major source of soil microplastic pollution, particularly in arid farming regions.

2022 Environmental Pollution 83 citations
Article Tier 2

Estimation of soil microplastic input derived from plastic gauze using a simplified model

Researchers developed a simplified estimation model combining remote sensing with field data to quantify microplastic input into soils from degrading plastic gauze used in haze prevention and agriculture in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Potential sources and occurrence of macro-plastics and microplastics pollution in farmland soils: A typical case of China

This review examines plastic pollution in Chinese farmland soils, finding that agricultural practices like mulch film use and sewage sludge application are major sources of both macro- and microplastics that accumulate over time.

2023 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Distinct microplastic distributions in soils of different land-use types: A case study of Chinese farmlands

Microplastic distribution across six types of farmland land use was surveyed from soils in five Chinese provinces to determine how agricultural practices shape soil microplastic contamination. The study found that microplastic abundance varied significantly by land-use type, with plastic mulch film use and irrigation practices as key contributing factors.

2020 Environmental Pollution 278 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of plastic film mulching on microplastic in farmland soils in Guangdong province, China

Researchers surveyed farmland in Guangdong, China's largest economic province, to determine how much plastic mulch film contributes to soil microplastic pollution. They found that fields using plastic mulch had significantly higher microplastic levels than those without, and the contamination correlated with years of mulch use. The study helps clarify the direct agricultural contribution to soil microplastic pollution in regions with many overlapping pollution sources.

2023 Heliyon 55 citations