Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
10115888 | Marine Pollution Bulletin | 2018 | 13 Pages |
Abstract
Remote sensing of plastic littering natural waters is an emerging field of science with the potential to provide observations on local to global scales. We present the verification of a theoretical reflectance model of sunlight interacting with a water surface littered with buoyant plastic objects. We measured a few common litter items of different polymers as well as shapes, transparencies, and surface roughnesses. Spectral reflectance measurements in the field were backed up with measurements in the laboratory of coefficients of total and diffuse reflectance, transmittance and absorption. We evaluated a single-band algorithm for 850â¯nm wavelength and a dual-band algorithm using a second wavelength at a polymer absorption band between 1660 and 1730â¯nm. Both algorithms were plastic litter type specific. Our findings show that for interpreting spectral remote sensing of floating plastic, physical properties that control geometrical optics should complement information about the absorption spectra of the polymer.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Oceanography
Authors
Lonneke Goddijn-Murphy, Juvenal Dufaur,