Marine debris spectroradiometric analyses: an indoor laboratory experiment to drive future standard protocols

Abstract Marine pollution is a growing global issue, impacting both marine ecosystem and human health. High quantities of debris, mainly composed by plastic items, have been identified both in the coastal area and in the sea environment. The difficulties to perform intensive in situ monitoring campaigns, especially in remote areas, could be overcome by the application of remote sensing techniques which can be effectively driven if the spectral signatures of the marine debris are known. In this framework, harvested marine debris (plastic items especially) were collected from two sandy beaches and were spectrally characterized by implementing two indoor laboratory experiments. Due to lack of a scientific protocol concerning the spectral data acquisition, two illumination conditions were tested. The data acquired, employing the two setups, were compared and the spectral angle mapper index (evaluated among each sample and sand) allowed evaluating the influences of the illumination conditions on the possible outdoor detection using remote sensors. Outcomes evidenced that for around 20% of the samples, the setup played a role in the detection of the harvested debris. For the majority of the samples green, blue, red-edge and some infrared bands are suitable for the detection with the WorldView-3 resulting the more promising nowadays operating satellite platform.