Nebula Public Library

There is growing global concern over the chemical, biological and ecological impact of marine plastic pollution. Every year many millions of tons of plastic enter the global oceans but where it goes remains largely unknown. Remote sensing has the potential to provide long-term, global monitoring but for plastics in the ocean it is still in early stages.

The main objectives of the REACT project were to:
▪ Assess how plastic litter can be detected and quantified with current and future remote sensing tools;
▪ Develop adaptive indices insensible to biases induced by sunglint on satellite radiometric products and indicate the constraints of current satellite missions under various atmospheric and illumination conditions;

The aim of this study was to explore and consolidate the possible sources of methane biases in retrievals from thermal infrared sensors, to establish necessary actions and perform the related work for mitigating biases. The study distinguishes three types of error sources, which shall be covered: spectroscopic knowledge and input data to radiative transfer models, forward model errors, and instrument biases.

The depletion of stratospheric ozone due to anthropogenic emissions of long-lived substances containing chlorine and other halogens was first identified as a matter of international concern in the mid-1970s and has received increasing attention since the mid-1980s after the discovery of the ozone hole. Today, in spite of the successful application of the Montreal Protocol and its amendments, the atmospheric halogen loading is still above natural levels and will remain so until the middle of this century.