Satellites orbiting in space can spot plastic hundreds of miles away in the ocean Researchers reveal European Union satellites can spot plastic particles in the ocean with 86 per cent accuracy

Satellites orbiting in space can spot pieces of plastic floating hundreds of miles away on the ocean’s surface, scientists have discovered.

Plastic particles as small as five millimeters in diameter can be spotted by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellite, scientists from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory found.

Spotting plastic

With the help of artificial intelligence, the satellite can identify plastic from other ocean debris such as seaweed or wood with 86 per cent accuracy.

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The researchers say the system is compatible with other satellites, and could even be used with drones as a low-cost way to monitor so-called “floating garbage patches” and speed the clean up operations.

“Though our work doesn’t fix the marine plastics pollution problem, satellites and drones offer synoptic ways of observing the marine environment and tracking floating plastics,” lead author Lauren Biermann told i. “If all goes well, we hope our future research will support active clean-up operations.”

Getting these plastics out of the ocean as quickly as possible as vital, before they break down into even tinier particles that can be eaten by fish and other marine life. Not only does this damage their digestive systems, it also means plastic enters the human food chain.

Machine learning

In order to hunt out information on plastics from the satellite data, the team established what a data signature for floating plastic and other materials would look like, based on how much visible and infrared light they absorb.

They then trained a computer to sift through the satellite data spotting the location of plastic debris. The system was successful in coastal trials around the world, from Canada to and Vietnam to Scotland and Ghana. The study is published today in the journal Scientific Reports.

Challenges remain

However, although the system could help with tackling floating plastic, recent studies suggest it only represents about one per cent of the total problem. Up to 99 per cent of the plastic arrived in the ocean is funnelled down to the very bottom.

A 2019 survey of ocean floors found that plastic sediment being whisked down to deep sea canyons, where it settles to form a man-made settlement.