Acoustic Camera-Based Automatic Abundance Estimation Algorithm for Marine Plastic Debris

The debris emitted by human society flows into the ocean in large quantities, among which plastic debris has the most serious impact, causing irreversible harm to ecosystems. Effectively perceiving marine plastic debris and estimating abundance is crucial for making cleanup solutions. However, current abundance estimations of debris mainly focus on the water surface, as optical and primary satellite sensors cannot work well in low-visibility underwater environments. Many investigations have shown that there is a lot of plastic debris below the ocean surface and even on the seabed, thus requiring the development of debris abundance estimation techniques applicable to various underwater visibility conditions. This study proposes an abundance estimation algorithm for marine plastic debris based on machine vision and the high-resolution acoustic camera, also known as forward-looking sonar, which can be used in low-visibility marine environments. The proposed approach was validated in a circulating water tank experiment and the results show that our proposal could effectively estimate debris abundance, potentially replacing time-consuming and labor-intensive manual investigation.