Mapping plastic pollution in water from space: potential opportunities and challenges for the application of NASA’s PACE mission

Abstract

Marine plastic pollution is an escalating global concern, yet accurate data on aquatic plastic debris remain scarce due to the inherent limitations of traditional in situ sampling methods. To address this gap, next-generation hyperspectral satellite missions, particularly the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), offer promising potential for monitoring plastic pollution. This review applies narrative and scoping approaches to evaluate the potential utility of PACE in aquatic plastic monitoring. Drawing on 100 curated references, it examines 10 key studies employing Sentinel-2, Landsat-8, WorldView-2 and -3, the Hyperspectral Precursor of the Application Mission (PRISMA), Sentinel-3, and the Environmental Mapping Analysis Program (EnMAP), providing insights relevant to PACE’s hyperspectral capabilities. Key mission parameters - including spatial resolution, spectral granularity, temporal revisit cycles, and polarimetric sensitivity - are compared across platforms. A post-hoc design suitability assessment and a structured Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Constraints (SWOC) analysis of PACE’s instruments highlight both advantages and limitations for aquatic plastic monitoring. The review proposes targeted strategies such as spectral unmixing, correction for confounding absorption effects, and derivative reflectance analysis to enhance the detection of plastic signals in optically complex waters. Although empirical evidence remains limited, this review argues that PACE’s unique architecture - combined with multisensor data fusion and advanced analytical methods - has the potential to overcome current methodological constraints. It presents a testable hypothesis that PACE’s spatial, spectral, and polarimetric capacities can significantly advance satellite-based monitoring of aquatic plastic pollution.

Keywords

Marine plastics / water pollution / hyperspectral sensors / OCI / HARP2 / SPEXone / water quality

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