Census of Marine Debris
Pacific Region; 2006
This project designed a survey, or census, of marine debris, and especially of derelict fishing nets, across the North Pacific. The survey uses high resolution satellite imagery, ground-truthed by a limited number of aerial surveys conducted using existing imaging techniques developed and demonstrated under the Ghostnet project.
The initial phase of this project was to conduct controlled experiments in Hawaii to evaluate the feasibility of using the satellite imagery to locate marine debris on the ocean surface under a range of environmental conditions. In these experiments, large pieces of existing derelict fishing gear were deployed (with tracking sensors) in known locations which were targeted by the various satellites. These were, of course, recovered at the end of the experiments. Since the pixel resolution of this imagery (IKONOS, SPOT, Quikbird) is 0.6-1.0 m and large derelict fishing gear is often an order of magnitude larger, researchers hypothesized that this imagery will be suitable for statistically sub-sampling the entire North Pacific Ocean. Funds were also used to design a statistically robust sampling design that would most cost effectively utilize a combination of satellite and aerial surveys.
This program is housed within NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and is funded through NOAA's Ocean Service, Office of Response & Restoration, Marine Debris Program.
