Abstract

Remote sensing technologies have the potential to support monitoring of floating plastic litter in aquatic environments. An experimental campaign was carried out in a large-scale hydrodynamic test facility to explore the detectability of floating plastics in ocean waves, comparing and contrasting different microwave and optical remote sensing technologies. The extensive experiments revealed that detection of plastics was feasible with microwave measurement techniques using X and Ku-bands with VV polarization at a plastic threshold concentration of 1 item/m2 or 1–10 g/m2. The optical measurements further revealed that spectral and polarization properties in the visible and infrared spectrum had diagnostic information unique to the floating plastics. This assessment presents a crucial step towards enabling the detection of aquatic plastics using advanced remote sensing technologies. We demonstrate that remote sensing has the potential for global targeting of plastic litter hotspots, which is needed for supporting effective clean-up efforts and scientific evidence-based policy making.

Details

Title
Assessing the detection of floating plastic litter with advanced remote sensing technologies in a hydrodynamic test facility
Author
de Fockert, A. 1 ; Eleveld, M. A. 2 ; Bakker, W. 1 ; Felício, J. M. 3 ; Costa, T. S. 4 ; Vala, M. 4 ; Marques, P. 5 ; Leonor, N. 6 ; Moreira, A. 4 ; Costa, J. R. 7 ; Caldeirinha, R. F. S. 6 ; Matos, S. A. 7 ; Fernandes, C. A. 4 ; Fonseca, N. 8 ; Simpson, M.D. 9 ; Marino, A. 9 ; Gandini, E. 8 ; Camps, A. 10 ; Perez-Portero, A. 11 ; Gonga, A. 11 ; Burggraaff, O. 12 ; Garaba, S. P. 13 ; Salama, M.S. 14 ; Xiao, Q. 15 ; Calvert, R. 16 ; van den Bremer, T. S. 17 ; de Maagt, P. 8 

 Deltares, Delft, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.6385.8) (ISNI:0000 0000 9294 0542) 
 Deltares, Delft, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.6385.8) (ISNI:0000 0000 9294 0542); Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.5292.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2097 4740) 
 Instituto Superior Técnico, Instituto de Telecomunicações, Lisbon, Portugal (GRID:grid.9983.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2181 4263); Escola Naval, Centro de Investigação Naval, Almada, Portugal (GRID:grid.410973.8) (ISNI:0000 0001 2164 6810) 
 Instituto Superior Técnico, Instituto de Telecomunicações, Lisbon, Portugal (GRID:grid.9983.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2181 4263) 
 Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal (GRID:grid.418858.8) (ISNI:0000 0000 9084 0599) 
 Instituto Superior Técnico, Instituto de Telecomunicações, Lisbon, Portugal (GRID:grid.9983.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2181 4263); Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, School of Technology and Management, Leiria, Portugal (GRID:grid.36895.31) (ISNI:0000 0001 2111 6991) 
 Instituto Superior Técnico, Instituto de Telecomunicações, Lisbon, Portugal (GRID:grid.9983.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2181 4263); Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Departamento de Ciências e Tecnologias da Informação, Lisbon, Portugal (GRID:grid.45349.3f) (ISNI:0000 0001 2220 8863) 
 European Space Agency (ESA), Antenna and Sub-Millimeter Wave Section, Noordwijk, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.424669.b) (ISNI:0000 0004 1797 969X) 
 University of Stirling, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Stirling, UK (GRID:grid.11918.30) (ISNI:0000 0001 2248 4331) 
10  CommSensLab-UPC, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, and Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya/CTE-UPC, Dept. Teoria del Senyal i Comunicacions, Barcelona, Spain (GRID:grid.6835.8) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 028X); UAE University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE (GRID:grid.43519.3a) (ISNI:0000 0001 2193 6666) 
11  CommSensLab-UPC, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, and Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya/CTE-UPC, Dept. Teoria del Senyal i Comunicacions, Barcelona, Spain (GRID:grid.6835.8) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 028X) 
12  Leiden University, Leiden Observatory and Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.5132.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2312 1970) 
13  Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Marine Sensor Systems Group, Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Wilhelmshaven, Germany (GRID:grid.5560.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 1009 3608) 
14  Twente University, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), Enschede, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.6214.1) (ISNI:0000 0004 0399 8953) 
15  University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science, Oxford, UK (GRID:grid.4991.5) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8948) 
16  Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.5292.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2097 4740); University of Edinburgh, School of Engineering, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK (GRID:grid.4305.2) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7988) 
17  Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.5292.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2097 4740); University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science, Oxford, UK (GRID:grid.4991.5) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8948) 
Pages
25902
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3121801727
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.