Merlino, Silvia

This study presents the design and implementation of low-cost drifters, along with different water monitoring applications. The first application presented is related to the tracking of marine litter from the Arno river mouth (central Italy, Tyrrhenian Sea), while the second one concerns the study of the dynamics of a volcanic lake in central Italy (Lago Albano). Both the implementation phase and the field experience benefited from an integrated approach of low-cost equipment, citizen science and numerical modeling.

It is well established that rivers are amongst the most important carriers of the plastic pollution found in the oceans. However, the main processes contributing to plastic and debris fate through riparian systems is still poorly known and understood. The Marine Litter Drifter project from the Arno River aims at using modern consumer software and hardware technologies to track the trajectories and evolution at sea of real Anthropogenic Marine Debris (AMD) from rivers, with a specific focus on the Arno River, in Italy. Innovative and low cost “Marine Litter Trackers” (MLT) were designed, assembled and used in this framework as they are reliable, robust, self-powered and they present almost no maintenance costs. Furthermore, they can be built not only by those trained in the field but also by those with no specific expertise, including high school students, simply by following the instructions. Several dispersion experiments were successfully conducted using different types of trackers in different seasons and weather conditions. The maximum distance tracked was 2845 km for a period of 94 days. The activity at sea was integrated by lagrangian numerical models supporting the planning of the deployments and the recovery of the drifters. The models, in turn could benefit from the observed tracking data for calibration and validation and serve as tools to study and interpret the processes driving macro plastic displacement at sea. In this presentation we describe this activity and we discuss the dynamics of marine litter (ML) dispersion in the Tyrrhenian Sea on the basis of these integrated monitoring tools, as well as the potential of open-source approaches including the “citizen-science” perspective for both improving Big Data collection and educating/awareness-raising on AMD issues.

first_pagesettingsOrder Article Reprints Open AccessArticle Marine Litter Tracking System: A Case Study with Open-Source Technology and a Citizen Science-Based Approach by Silvia Merlino 1,*ORCID,Marina Locritani 2ORCID,Antonio Guarnieri 3ORCID,Damiano Delrosso 3,Marco Bianucci 1ORCID andMarco Paterni 4 1 CNR-ISMAR (Istituto di Scienze Marine-Sede di La Spezia), 19032 La Spezia, Italy 2 Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Roma 2, 00143 Roma, Italy 3 Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy 4 CNR-IFC (Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica-Pisa), 56124 Pisa, Italy * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Sensors 2023, 23(2), 935; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23020935 Received: 28 November 2022 / Revised: 9 January 2023 / Accepted: 10 January 2023 / Published: 13 January 2023 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Enabling Citizen Science in Communal Smart Environments with IoT Technology) Download Browse Figures Review Reports Versions Notes Abstract It is well established that most of the plastic pollution found in the oceans is transported via rivers. Unfortunately, the main processes contributing to plastic and debris displacement through riparian systems is still poorly understood. The Marine Litter Drifter project from the Arno River aims at using modern consumer software and hardware technologies to track the movements of real anthropogenic marine debris (AMD) from rivers. The innovative “Marine Litter Trackers” (MLT) were utilized as they are reliable, robust, self-powered and they present almost no maintenance costs. Furthermore, they can be built not only by those trained in the field but also by those with no specific expertise, including high school students, simply by following the instructions. Five dispersion experiments were successfully conducted from April 2021 to December 2021, using different types of trackers in different seasons and weather conditions. The maximum distance tracked was 2845 km for a period of 94 days. The activity at sea was integrated by use of Lagrangian numerical models that also assisted in planning the deployments and the recovery of drifters. The observed tracking data in turn were used for calibration and validation, recursively improving their quality. The dynamics of marine litter (ML) dispersion in the Tyrrhenian Sea is also discussed, along with the potential for open-source approaches including the “citizen science” perspective for both improving big data collection and educating/awareness-raising on AMD issues.

Il documento descrive i risultati due progetti di ricerca libera INGV (ML-DAR e ML-CSA) che hanno come obiettivo lo sviluppo di rifiuti marini tracciati a basso costo e lo studio del percorso che questi fanno allo sbocco dei fiumi in mare (il primo) con il coinvolgimento di volontari e studenti (il secondo).

Experimental studies in recent years highlight the presence of an increasingly high quantity of microplastics worldwide [1]. The "resin pellets" represent a significant share among the first generation microplastics in the millimeter range (from 1 to 5 mm). They disperse in the environment, even unintentionally, during transport, storage and processing and recent studies show that their content varies from 3% to about 30% of all microplastics surveyed on beaches [2]. A three-years experiment was carried out on a simulated beach and in marine water in Santa Teresa Bay (Gulf of La Spezia, Italy). In detail, special cages have been installed on the underwater observatory, LabMARE coastal station [3], placed at ten meters deep. The submarine station is equipped with a sensor for monitoring environmental parameters, recording data every 10 min. The experiment, aimed at investigating the behavior of plastic items and HDPE, PP, PLA and PBAT pellets, began on March 3, 2020 and is still ongoing. Here, the comparison between the properties of the raw pellets and those placed in the two different environments after six months, is discussed. Through chemical, spectroscopic and thermal analyses (GPC, SEM, FTIR-ATR, DSC, TGA) of granules, variations in color, surface morphology, chemical composition, thermal properties and molecular weight, and polydispersity of materials are analysed to show the different influences of environmental conditions.

The rapid identification of beached marine micro-plastics is essential for the determination of the source of pollution and for planning the most effective strategies for remediation. In this paper, we present the results obtained by applying the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique on a large sample of different kinds of plastics that can be found in a marine environment. The use of chemometric analytical tools allowed a rapid classification of the pellets with an accuracy greater than 80%. The LIBS spectrum and statistical tests proved their worth to quickly identify polymers, and in particular, to distinguish C-O from C-C backbone pellets, and PE from PP ones. In addition, the PCA analysis revealed a correlation between appearance (surface pellets roughness) and color (yellowing), as reported by other recent studies. The preliminary results on the analysis of metals accumulated on the surface of the pellets are also reported. The implication of these results is discussed in view of the possibility of frequent monitoring of the marine plastic pollution on the seacoast.

The process of the development of a citizen science platform on Ocean Literacy designed and implemented during the lock-down period of 2020 is described. As restrictions due to the COVID-19 health emergency did not allow researchers to organise public events and field data collection activities related to Ocean Literacy, it was decided to take advantage of this situation by building an online platform to bring Ocean Literacy issues directly into citizens’ homes. The massive use of digital tools by all civ-ic communities during this time has enabled both the implementation of this idea and rendering it effective. The pandemic control measures then provided a unique opportunity to focus citizen attention on the collection of household data and information and to highlight the more or less direct connections between citizens’ lifestyles and the eco-marine system. Short questionnaires were used to ascertain and highlight citizens’ household behaviours and daily attitudes during the lockdown towards water use, seafood consumption and plastic material use and disposal. Data and information were also proposed, collected and analyzed in terms of: general environmental awareness of the respondents, perception regarding their purchasing choices during this particular period, as well as any changes in lifestyles and habits during the lockdown with respect to previous periods. The collected data enabled the improvement of our knowledge on some aspects of people’s domestic habits as well as their perception vs. real knowledge about the proposed environmental issues. We also realized that it is increasingly crucial for scientists to directly and extensively involve people and schools in educational and outreach activities and events as a good practice of science-society interaction. But to achieve good results there is a need to develop appropriate communication tools and effective involvement strategies to promote their widespread participation in citizen science projects.

In this paper, we will describe a temporary exhibition held at the Museo di Storia Naturale dell’Università di Pisa (Natural History Museum of the University of Pisa, hereafter MSN), Italy, in year 2020-2021, and the educational and awareness raising results that the proposed approach has produced. The aim of this exhibition was to guide the visitor along a path of awareness on the very topical issue of “plastic in our environment”. It focused not only on the environmental impact produced by the dispersal of anthropogenic plastic waste, especially in the sea, but also on the awareness of what actions need to be taken, both on a govern-mental and personal level, by each of us, to limit it in the future. The exhibition started from the data and images proposed by the media, which shocked us with the seriousness of the plastic emergency and triggered worldwide attention. Then the emphasis of the exhibition shifted to scientific data, rigorously presented by researchers who study the issue directly in the field, in the Mediter-ranean Sea and along its coasts. Finally, the last exhibits addressed the issue of plastic disposal, inviting visitors to check their real knowledge about the concepts of degradable, compostable, or recyclable plastic, and to reflect on what could be the most effective means to limit plastic problems in the future. The plastic problem is exquisitely anthropogenic, and the exhibit was designed to make visitors feel involved. The mismanagement of the lifecycle of this material (from manufacturing processes to products’ end life) can be addressed on a global scale by drastically reducing the use and production of single-use plastic items, promoting proper waste management, and improving the effectiveness of recycling. The exhibition message was that laws are essential, as well as calling plastic producers to their responsibility, but something can also be done locally by us as individuals, through proper disposal and by producing less single-use plastic waste. Visitors’ attitudes and knowledge on this topic were investigated through online questionnaires prepared by experts in the field, and the data collected are presented and discussed in this paper.

In this paper, we present two novel experimental setups specifically designed to perform in situ long-term monitoring of the aging behaviour of commercial plastic granules (HDPE, PP, PLA and PBAT). The results of the first six months of a three year monitoring campaign are presented. The two experimental setups consist of: (i) special cages positioned close to the sea floor at a depth of about 10 m, and (ii) a box containing sand exposed to atmospheric agents to simulate the surface of a beach. Starting from March 2020, plastic granules were put into the cages and plunged in sea water in two different locations in the sand boxes. Chemical spectroscopic and thermal analyses (GPC, SEM, FTIR-ATR, DSC, TGA) were performed on the granules before and after exposure to natural elements for six months, in order to identify the physical-chemical modifications occurring in marine environmental conditions (both in seawater and in sandy coastal conditions). Changes in colour, surface morphology, chemical composition, thermal properties and molecular weight, and the polydispersity of the materials, showed the different influences of the environmental conditions. Photooxidative reaction pathways were prevalent in the sandbox. Abrasive phenomena acted specially in the sea environment. PLA and PBAT did not show significant degradation after six months, making the possible reduction of marine pollution due to this process negligible

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV, aka drones) are being used for mapping macro-litter in the environment. As drone images require a manual processing task for detecting marine litter, it is of interest to evaluate the accuracy of non-expert citizen science operators (CSO) in performing this task. Students from Italian secondary schools (in this work, the CSO) were invited to identify, mark, and classify stranded litter items on a UAV orthophoto collected on an Italian beach. A specific training program and working tools were developed for the aim. The comparison with the standard in situ visual census survey returned a general underestimation (50%) of items. However, marine litter bulk categorisation was fairly in agreement with the in situ survey, especially for sources classification. The concordance level among CSO ranged between 60% and 91%, depending on the item properties considered (type, material, and colour). As the assessment accuracy was in line with previous works developed by experts, remote detection of marine litter on UAV images can be improved through citizen science programs, upon an appropriate training plan and provision of specific tools.