Marine plastic litter has become a global challenge, affecting all regions of the planet, withmassive plastic input to the marine environment every year. Novel remote sensing methods cangreatly contribute to face this complex issue with their ability to provide large-scale data. Here wepresent experimental tests exploring the potential of the hyperspectral fluorescence LIDARtechnique for the detection and characterization of plastics when plunged into a layer of naturalwater. The experiments were carried out in the laboratory by using an in-house developedfluorescence hyperspectral LIDAR with 355 nm excitation from a distance of 11 m on weatheredcommercial plastic samples plunged into natural water. Results showed the capability of thetechnique to detect the fluorescence features of several types of plastics, also when plunged intowater, and to decouple it from the fluorescence due to colored dissolved organic matter and fromRaman scattering due to water molecules. Discrimination of plastics against other marine debris,e.g., vegetation and wood, has also been discussed. The study lays a basis for fluorescence LIDARremote sensing of plastics in marine environment and paves the way to the detection of MPL alsoin conditions (e.g., submerged or transparent plastics) that are likely to be challenging by usingother passive remote sensing techniques.

Experimental Tests for Fluorescence LIDAR Remote Sensing of Submerged Plastic Marine Litter

Lorenzo Palombi;Valentina Raimondi
2022

Abstract

Marine plastic litter has become a global challenge, affecting all regions of the planet, withmassive plastic input to the marine environment every year. Novel remote sensing methods cangreatly contribute to face this complex issue with their ability to provide large-scale data. Here wepresent experimental tests exploring the potential of the hyperspectral fluorescence LIDARtechnique for the detection and characterization of plastics when plunged into a layer of naturalwater. The experiments were carried out in the laboratory by using an in-house developedfluorescence hyperspectral LIDAR with 355 nm excitation from a distance of 11 m on weatheredcommercial plastic samples plunged into natural water. Results showed the capability of thetechnique to detect the fluorescence features of several types of plastics, also when plunged intowater, and to decouple it from the fluorescence due to colored dissolved organic matter and fromRaman scattering due to water molecules. Discrimination of plastics against other marine debris,e.g., vegetation and wood, has also been discussed. The study lays a basis for fluorescence LIDARremote sensing of plastics in marine environment and paves the way to the detection of MPL alsoin conditions (e.g., submerged or transparent plastics) that are likely to be challenging by usingother passive remote sensing techniques.
2022
Istituto di Fisica Applicata - IFAC
: fluorescence; LIDAR; hyperspectral; plastics; marine litter; remote sensing
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Descrizione: Experimental Tests for Fluorescence LIDAR Remote Sensing of Submerged Plastic Marine Litter
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14243/413980
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