An Estimation Method of Coastal Ocean Debris Using Aerial Drone

• Main Authors: Ishii, Kazuo, 石井, 和男, イシイ, カズオ, Shirahashi, Kanako, Nishida, Yuya, 西田, 祐也, ニシダ, ユウヤ, Tominaga, Moeko, Tanaka, Yoshiki, Solpico, Dominic B.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: ALife Robotics 2022
• Subjects: Ocean debris; Arial drone; Coastal cleaning; Arctic; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://kyutech.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/7498/files/ICAROB2022_OS27-5.pdf

The actual situation of marine litter has not been measured accurately; however innumerable floating garbage are drifting in the ocean. Especially, non-perishable waste such as microplastics continues to grow and is damaging marine life, including endangered species, and some are washed ashore and causing pollution damage to coastal areas. Microplastics incorporated into marine organisms, Arctic Sea ice, and deep-sea seafloor sediments have also been detected. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation in the United Kingdom estimates that the total amount of marine debris exceeds 150 million tons, with more than 8 million tons of new inflow each year. We measured and compared the amount of ocean debris in coasts in Hirado and Matsuura cities, Nagasaki with manual count and an aerial drone observation. The 2022 International Conference on Artificial Life and Robotics (ICAROB 2022), January 20-23, 2022, on line, Oita, Japan Conference Paper conference paper