Feasibility of Radar-Based Detection of Floating Macroplastics at Microwave Frequencies

Plastic marine litter is becoming a major environmental concern. Microwaves (MWs) have potential for remote detection of floating macroplastics operating from satellites or airborne platforms, but very scarce and limited studies exist in the literature evaluating MW radar effectiveness for this purp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on antennas and propagation 2024-03, Vol.72 (3), p.2766-2779
Main Authors: Felicio, Joao M., Costa, Tomas S., Vala, Mario, Leonor, Nuno, Costa, Jorge R., Marques, Paulo, Moreira, Antonio A., Caldeirinha, Rafael F. S., Matos, Sergio A., Fernandes, Carlos A., Fonseca, Nelson J. G., de Maagt, Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Active radar
Antennas
backscattering
Capillary waves
Deep sea
Geometry
macroplastics
marine plastics
Measurement
microwave (MW) sensing
Microwave frequencies
Plastics
polarimetry
polarization
pollution
Radar detection
remote sensing
rough surface
Satellites
Scattering
scattering measurements
sea scattering
Sea surface
Superhigh frequencies
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Summary:Plastic marine litter is becoming a major environmental concern. Microwaves (MWs) have potential for remote detection of floating macroplastics operating from satellites or airborne platforms, but very scarce and limited studies exist in the literature evaluating MW radar effectiveness for this purpose. First, we present the results of a systematic study on MW scattering of floating low-mass macroplastics at 2-20-GHz frequency band using radar techniques. Data were first collected in small-scale measurement campaigns carried out in an indoor facility capable of producing deep sea-like wave patterns, with different floating single-use plastic items. The study reveals that, for these targets, one important scattering contribution arises from the indentation they produce on the water. For the tested conditions, targets, and metrics, it was possible to detect several types of floating plastic targets down to 10-g/m2 concentration. Detection tended to significantly improve at the X-band, although the detection threshold depends on the combination of the mentioned conditions. Tests were also extended to two small-scale outdoor scenarios with natural wind and capillary waves. The detection of macroplastics was successful in these tested scenarios.
ISSN:0018-926X
1558-2221
DOI:10.1109/TAP.2023.3347031