Exogenous floating marine debris: Filling search and detection gaps using remote sensing

Exogenous floating marine debris (EFMD) presents a worldwide concern, and, due to its ubiquitous characteristics and long-term threat within oceanic environments, is going under pressing scientific scrutiny. Search and detection of EFMD using remote sensing are very challenging and are looking for new break-through scientific approaches. Besides, the significant costs associated with these techniques implemented up to now make its worldwide spread prohibitive. The main focus of this Doctorate Thesis in Information Management is to create an automatic detection method for EFMD using distinct remote sensing techniques. Remote sensing techniques for EFMD have important applications to readily monitor illegal dumping and natural disaster outputs, and to improve rescues at sea. Moreover, marine management improvement can be easily attained not only from more efficient cost-effective EFMD detection and collection, but also from better understand the quantitative links between EFMD and marine systems health. Remote sensing technological development is other possible achievement associated with this type of research, principally vising ESA new satellites scheduled to be release in a near future.