CMLO (Coastal Marine Litter Observatory) is an online web platform for mapping marine litter on coastal zones.
The presence of Marine Litter (ML) has been recognized as a significant problem. It can dramatically affect flora and fauna and produce severe economic impacts on coastal communities, tourism, and fisheries. Existing data collection and monitoring systems are limited and unable to respond to the spatiotemporal change and the dynamics of their concentrations in the marine and coastal environment.
In this content SciDrones PC has created the Coastal Marine Litter Observatory (CMLO), which aims to detect and map the marine litter in the coastal zone with the combined use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and machine learning methods.
CMLO aims to improve the detection and mapping of marine litter in the coastal zone. The results presented through CMLO are open through a dedicated geospatial portal. In the CMLO system, the detection of marine debris in the coastal zone is visualized as density maps. The system provides functionalities for interaction with the results of the detection for every beach that is monitored.
In the Coastal Marine Litter Observatory (CMLO), the detection of marine litter results is visualized as density maps. CMLO includes all the derived information as geospatial information related to:
The CMLO is a tool for the quantitative presentation of marine litter distribution in the coastal zone using automated classification methods. Through the CMLO SDI portal, users can interact and compare the marine litter detection results for every beach monitored.
CMLO and the produced marine litter density maps can be used as a decision-making tool for policymakers and scientists. The integration and visualization of the liter density information allow to facilitate decision-making by stakeholders. Last but not least, the litter density maps and their spatiotemporal analysis are provided open to the public and organizations (NGOs, Local authorities, Governments, researchers, etc.).
SDGs connection: CMLO is ideal for the UN SDG Indicator 14.1.1b, i.e., monitoring marine plastic litter on the beaches.
