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Updated November 3rd, 2021 at 23:19 IST

ESA begins new research to test technologies for tracking plastic waste from space

The European Space Agency (ESA) is commencing new research to test if space technologies would be able to detect them from orbit.

Reported by: Harsh Vardhan
Europe
Image: Twitter/@ESA_Tech | Image:self
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In its attempt to contain the plastic waste floating out in the oceans, the European Space Agency (ESA) is commencing new research to test if space technologies would be able to detect them from orbit. According to a statement by ESA on its website, it has recently started the research by dumping plastic litter into a realistic scale model of the Atlantic Ocean. It is estimated that an average of 10 million tons of plastic enters the ocean annually which is equivalent to a fresh truckload of plastic dumped every minute. However, the experts only know what happens to about 1% of the garbage after it is released into the oceans.   

Looking answers of fundamental questions: ESA

ESA antenna engineer Peter de Maagt, who is overseeing the campaign said,

Our goal here is to answer a few fundamental questions. To start with, can we detect floating plastics with space-based monitoring at all? And if so, which techniques show the most promise, at what frequency and with what sensitivity? Up until now researchers have had general gut feelings about what might work the best, but we are working to remove any guesswork. 

Scientists conducted the test at the Deltares research institute inside the Atlantic Basin Facility near Delft in the Netherlands, which is equipped with wave generators to create realistic deep water waves which can be found in the ocean. According to the ESA, the plastic they used in the basin included material previously recovered from the sea through cleanup campaigns. It further revealed that the plastic placed into the basin took the form of popular items found at seas, such as bags, bottles, marine nets and ropes, cutlery and Styrofoam balls for maximum realism. Non-plastic items including cigarette ends were also added to the garbage chunk to mimic actual distribution in the seawater. 

What did the results say?

With the ideal setting, the team of experts simulated observations from space for monitoring the plastic waste. The first test campaign lasted for two weeks, plus an initial week for setup, where the researchers started with floating plastic and no waves and then progressed to bigger waves. To study the waveforms, scientists employed radar remote sensing and optical instrumentation in an attempt to better quantify the wave-damping effect of marine plastic litter, which might be harnessed to estimate plastic concentrations in the future. 

They reported that the results looked promising after processing the initial data. In an ESA statement, de Maagt said, “The initial results look promising, meaning that under certain circumstances the teams did receive useable signals, but there is a lot of analysis still to be performed. We aim to use the time between this test campaign and the follow-up, due to take place early next year, to identify gaps in knowledge that need further focus.”

Image: Twitter/@ESA_Tech

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Published November 3rd, 2021 at 23:19 IST

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