MAC_DroneAI: Monitorização Inteligente de Lixo Marinho na Macaronésia com Drones e Inteligência Artificial

Marine litter pollution, exacerbated by climate change, impacts marine ecosystems and communities. The methodologies of the OCEANLIT project enable the detection and mapping of litter, complementing in situ methods and optimising the response. Given the increase in weather events that intensify litter accumulation, and considering litter as a vector for invasive species facilitated by climate change, timely monitoring is crucial.

MAC-DroneAI_2CAP aims to develop, optimise and expand a standardised remote sensing methodology/technological solution for mapping marine litter in Macaronesia, including Cape Verde. This involves knowledge sharing through training local teams to operate drones and collect imagery. A centralised service will be established for standardised image processing, generating accumulation maps for local authorities.

The methodology will be integrated into international guidelines, aiming to demonstrate effectiveness, promote scalability and encourage adoption in environmental monitoring programmes.