Monitoring of beach litter by automatic interpretation of unmanned aerial vehicle images using the segmentation threshold method

Abstract

This study was aimed at monitoring beach litter using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the coastal city of Fuzhou, China. The data analysis shows that the optical images obtained by digital cameras on the UAV can help to identify and monitor beach litter using remote sensing and GIS technologies. The threshold method can effectively segment the UAV image in the beach area. It is useful for quickly monitoring the distribution of beach litter in the area of interest, and hence it can help to provide effective technical support for the investigation and assessment of coastal beach litter.