POSTER SESSION 2
10:30–12:30, Tuesday, September 15
Poster Session | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Schedule at a Glance
ABSTRACT 1265 | POSTER 246
EVALUATING THE POTENTIAL FOR REMOTE SENSING OF FLOATING MARINE MICROPLASTICS AND DEBRIS IN THE CONTEXT OF DIVERSE ATMOSPHERIC GASES USING EMIT IMAGERY
Global evaluation of marine microplastic pollution would be improved using remote sensing techniques, but existing satellite sensors have not been designed specifically for this purpose. Understanding atmospheric variability is critical both in terms of how atmospheric scattering can overwhelm the signal from dilute concentrations of floating debris as it propagates from the water surface to the top of atmosphere (TOA), as well as how atmospheric gases can absorb light in similar wavelengths to plastic polymers. Water vapor, for example, has absorption features in spectral regions known for plastic detection, 1215 and 1732 nm. Here, we use hyperspectral EMIT imagery from the International Space Station (380 to 2500 nm) to evaluate how absorption features related to plastic (e.g., 930, 1215, 1732 nm) are propagated to TOA radiances in the presence of different atmospheric aerosol and gas profiles. Because identification of floating targets is not possible at 60 m spatial scale, our analysis is conducted with large plastic targets of different compositions on land (e.g., large roofs) to assess the variability in band depths over time at the same location with changing atmospheric composition. With EMIT imagery, we show how estimates of water vapor at 945 nm can be confounded with plastic absorption at 931 nm and evaluate whether uncertainties in water vapor retrieval interfere with accurate band depth estimates at 1215 and 1732 nm. These sensitivity analyses are critical in the context of designing new sensors and missions for floating microplastic detection.
Jakob Werdell*, University of Connecticut, [email protected]
Heidi Dierssen, University of Connecticut, [email protected]
Kirk Knobelspiesse, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, [email protected]
Amir Ibrahim, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, [email protected]
Pengwang Zhai, University of Maryland Baltimore County, [email protected]
Oskar Landi, Oskar Landi Inc., [email protected]
David Thomson, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, [email protected]
Poster Session | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Schedule at a Glance
