Toward Robust River Plastic Detection: Combining Lab and Field‐Based Hyperspectral Imagery

Abstract Plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems has increased dramatically in the last five decades, with strong impacts on human and aquatic life. Recent studies endorse the need for innovative approaches to monitor the presence, abundance, and types of plastic in these ecosystems. One approach ga...

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Main Authors: Paolo F. Tasseron, Louise Schreyers, Joseph Peller, Lauren Biermann, Tim vanEmmerik
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2022-11-01
Series:Earth and Space Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EA002518
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author Paolo F. Tasseron
Louise Schreyers
Joseph Peller
Lauren Biermann
Tim vanEmmerik
author_facet Paolo F. Tasseron
Louise Schreyers
Joseph Peller
Lauren Biermann
Tim vanEmmerik
author_sort Paolo F. Tasseron
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems has increased dramatically in the last five decades, with strong impacts on human and aquatic life. Recent studies endorse the need for innovative approaches to monitor the presence, abundance, and types of plastic in these ecosystems. One approach gaining rapid traction is the use of multi‐ and hyperspectral cameras. However, most experiments using this approach were in controlled environments, making findings challenging to apply in natural environments. We present a method linking lab‐ and field‐based identification of macroplastics using hyperspectral data (1,150–1,675 nm). Experiments using riverbank‐harvested macroplastics were set up in a laboratory environment, and on the banks of the Rhine River. Representative pixel selections of eleven lab‐based images (n = 786,264 pixels) and two field‐based images (n = 40,289 pixels) were used to analyze the differences between these environments. Next, classifier algorithms such as support vector machines (SVM), spectral angle mapper (SAM) and spectral information divergence (SID) were applied, because of their robustness to varying light conditions and high accuracies in mapping spectral similarities. Our results showed that SAM classifiers are most robust in separating plastic pixels from background elements. By applying lab‐based data for plastic detection in field‐based images, user accuracies for plastics to up to 93.6% (n = 8,370 plastic pixels) were attained. This study provides key fundamental insights in linking lab‐based data to plastic detection in the field. With this paper we aim to contribute to the development of future spectral missions to detect and monitor plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems.
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spelling doaj.art-d3e49f94474249dcb2b11609640e0f9c2022-12-22T04:39:34ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)Earth and Space Science2333-50842022-11-01911n/an/a10.1029/2022EA002518Toward Robust River Plastic Detection: Combining Lab and Field‐Based Hyperspectral ImageryPaolo F. Tasseron0Louise Schreyers1Joseph Peller2Lauren Biermann3Tim vanEmmerik4Hydrology and Quantitative Water Management Group Wageningen University and Research Wageningen The NetherlandsHydrology and Quantitative Water Management Group Wageningen University and Research Wageningen The NetherlandsPlant Sciences Group Wageningen University and Research Wageningen The NetherlandsPlymouth Marine Laboratory Plymouth UKHydrology and Quantitative Water Management Group Wageningen University and Research Wageningen The NetherlandsAbstract Plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems has increased dramatically in the last five decades, with strong impacts on human and aquatic life. Recent studies endorse the need for innovative approaches to monitor the presence, abundance, and types of plastic in these ecosystems. One approach gaining rapid traction is the use of multi‐ and hyperspectral cameras. However, most experiments using this approach were in controlled environments, making findings challenging to apply in natural environments. We present a method linking lab‐ and field‐based identification of macroplastics using hyperspectral data (1,150–1,675 nm). Experiments using riverbank‐harvested macroplastics were set up in a laboratory environment, and on the banks of the Rhine River. Representative pixel selections of eleven lab‐based images (n = 786,264 pixels) and two field‐based images (n = 40,289 pixels) were used to analyze the differences between these environments. Next, classifier algorithms such as support vector machines (SVM), spectral angle mapper (SAM) and spectral information divergence (SID) were applied, because of their robustness to varying light conditions and high accuracies in mapping spectral similarities. Our results showed that SAM classifiers are most robust in separating plastic pixels from background elements. By applying lab‐based data for plastic detection in field‐based images, user accuracies for plastics to up to 93.6% (n = 8,370 plastic pixels) were attained. This study provides key fundamental insights in linking lab‐based data to plastic detection in the field. With this paper we aim to contribute to the development of future spectral missions to detect and monitor plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EA002518classificationhyperspectralreflectancemacrolitterspectral angle mappingmonitoring
spellingShingle Paolo F. Tasseron
Louise Schreyers
Joseph Peller
Lauren Biermann
Tim vanEmmerik
Toward Robust River Plastic Detection: Combining Lab and Field‐Based Hyperspectral Imagery
Earth and Space Science
classification
hyperspectral
reflectance
macrolitter
spectral angle mapping
monitoring
title Toward Robust River Plastic Detection: Combining Lab and Field‐Based Hyperspectral Imagery
title_full Toward Robust River Plastic Detection: Combining Lab and Field‐Based Hyperspectral Imagery
title_fullStr Toward Robust River Plastic Detection: Combining Lab and Field‐Based Hyperspectral Imagery
title_full_unstemmed Toward Robust River Plastic Detection: Combining Lab and Field‐Based Hyperspectral Imagery
title_short Toward Robust River Plastic Detection: Combining Lab and Field‐Based Hyperspectral Imagery
title_sort toward robust river plastic detection combining lab and field based hyperspectral imagery
topic classification
hyperspectral
reflectance
macrolitter
spectral angle mapping
monitoring
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EA002518
work_keys_str_mv AT paoloftasseron towardrobustriverplasticdetectioncombininglabandfieldbasedhyperspectralimagery
AT louiseschreyers towardrobustriverplasticdetectioncombininglabandfieldbasedhyperspectralimagery
AT josephpeller towardrobustriverplasticdetectioncombininglabandfieldbasedhyperspectralimagery
AT laurenbiermann towardrobustriverplasticdetectioncombininglabandfieldbasedhyperspectralimagery
AT timvanemmerik towardrobustriverplasticdetectioncombininglabandfieldbasedhyperspectralimagery