Researchers find new way to map ocean plastics from orbit
Ocean plastics are on everyone's mind, and it's only getting worse every year, but a new mapping technique using satellites could help clean them up.
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Ocean plastics are on everyone's mind, and it's only getting worse every year, but a new mapping technique using satellites could help clean them up.
A new radar receiver will greatly enhance scientists’ ability to study storms, observe polar ice, predict floods, and measure sea surface height.
Researchers use satellites to pinpoint polluted areas in the ocean
Please share this article - Go to very top of page, right hand side, for social media buttons. To understand how microplastic pollution is affecting the ocean, scientists need to know how much is there and where it is accumulating. Most data on microplastic concentrations comes from commercial and research ships that tow plankton nets - long, cone-shaped nets with very fine mesh designed for collecting marine microorganisms. Plastic fragments washed onto Schiavonea beach in Calabria, Italy, in a 2019 storm. But net trawling can sample only small areas and may be underestimating true plast...