Garbage patches have become one of the most relevant environmental problems. Much of this debris is composed by microplastics which, despite being hardly noticeable, can have some of the most negative impact. They have devastating effects on marine life and pose significant threats to ocean ecosystems and humanity in extension.

This is a harmful and invisible problem for most of the world’s population. Even though millions of tons of plastic enter the oceans every year, little is known about where it all ends up.

Plastic iseverywhere. In April 2019, an American undersea explorer beat the world record by descending nearly 11 km into the deepest place in the ocean. On his quest, he discovered 3 new species of marine animals, as well as a plastic bag.

Figure. Marine plastic debris life cycle diagram.

Eight million metric tons of plastic waste enter the ocean every year, and once in the water, this material never fully biodegrades. Most of the plastic waste comes from rivers and coastal areas in form of macroplastic debris. In this stage, the environmental impact is still reversible. But after the process of disintegration, macroplastic becomes microplastic, and microplastic turns into nanoplastic, which becomes part of the food chain. From this point on, the damage is irreversible.

What can we do to prevent and reverse the damage? In order to make floating marine plastic removal more efficient, we need to track it along the ocean first. But this challenge had not been fully addressed yet. Until now.

A recent study developed by Dr. Lauren Biermann exposed evidence of macroplastics detection in coastal waters using data collected by earth observation satellites. Through a combination of different satellite bands, she computed an average spectrum for plastic, plants and ocean water. The results were impressive: she discovered how to differentiate them using high spatial resolution imagery. [1]

Figure. Average frequency spectra of plastic, plants and clean water in the ocean

Based on this achievement, we’ve developed a Dynamic Ocean Control Analysis System (DOCAS). It provides a near-real time plastic tracking system, which delivers a better insight of the plastic pollution in oceanic regions worldwide. Combining different satellite images to achieve high spatial resolution, high temporal resolution and a rich collection of data time series, the system distributes expensivecomputations thanks to Google Earth’s Engine. Machine learning algorithms are also deployed to increase its performance in macroplastic debris detection, as an international collaborative effort. [3]

Figure. Dynamic Ocean Control Analysis System features.

DOCAS implements both supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms to detect plastic through a rich collection of multiple satellite images. Sentinel and Landsat provide high spatial resolution imagery. Modis feeds a large data time series that allows us to detect anomalies due to a spatial and temporal statistics analysis.

The system intends to increase global awareness about the ocean plastic pollution crisis. It brings into the spotlight an invisible yet globally damaging problem. It improves oceanic garbage patches gathering through an efficient waste collection planning. It also reduces environmental impact by smart routing of garbage areas and provides a system that allows regulation agencies to comply environmental standards and policies.

Figure. Dynamic Ocean Control Analysis System impact.

Thanks to data imagery collected by NASA’s satellites, DOCAS is a pioneer smart system which offers a unique precision tool to fight oceanic pollution.

So, help us clean up our oceans with DOCAS!

References

[1] EGU General Assembly 2019

[2] Dr. Biermann EGU 2019 abstract

[3] Dynamic Ocean Control Analysis System sample video