Making a Single Plastic Bag Visible from Space

[By: Eyesea]

Eyesea, a global leader in oceanic pollution mapping, proudly announces a groundbreaking partnership with Grundo, a pioneer in advanced satellite image spectrometry. Satellite image spectrometry analyzes the spectrum of light reflected from the Earth's surface. By capturing and processing this data, the system can identify specific materials based on their unique spectral signatures the partnership between Eyesea and Grundo aims to harness satellite image spectrometry to enhance the detection and tracking of marine plastic and hydrocarbon pollutants.

The effectiveness of this system was demonstrated in Greenland and on Parry Island, Canada (in the Northwest Passage). The Aurora Expeditions vessel, Sylvia Earle, recovered rope (Greenland) and a single plastic bag from a beach on Perry Island. In a landmark achievement, the satellite image spectrometry system successfully confirmed the presence of this debris, highlighting its potential to identify even the smallest pollutants in remote and challenging environments.

Graeme Somerville-Ryan, Co-Founder of Eyesea, stated, “Our partnership with Grundo represents a major leap forward in Eyesea’s mission to develop a portfolio of tech tools to support pollution monitoring and recovery. Incredibly, we now can detect even small pieces of plastic from space. This transforms how we address environmental hazards, both in terms area and location.”

Eyesea and Grundo have already expanded the deployment of this technology to support clean-up work and monitoring in the Galapagos Islands This collaboration not only aims to improve environmental health but also to raise awareness and drive action towards a more sustainable future.

Dr. Miller Mendoza Jiménez, Co-founder and CTO of Grundo, said, “Our satellite image spectrometry technology is designed to provide unparalleled accuracy in environmental monitoring. We are working with Eyesea to add Grundo’s spectrometry overlay to their analytics platform. We are thrilled to see it making a real difference in identifying and mitigating pollution.”