Optical identification of marine floating debris from Sentinel-2 MSI imagery using radiation signal difference

A spaceborne optical technique for marine floating debris is developed to detect, discriminate, and quantify such debris, especially that with weak optical signals. The technique uses only the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) signal based on the difference radiative transfer (DRT). DRT unveils diverse optical signals by referencing those within the neighborhood. Using DRT of either simulated signals or Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI) data, target types can be confirmed between the two and pinpointed on a normalized type line. The line, mostly, indicates normalized values of <0.2 for waters, 0.2-0.6 for debris, and >0.8 for algae. The classification limit for MSI is a sub-pixel fraction of 3%; above which, the boundary between debris and algae is distinct, being separated by >three standard deviations. This automated methodology unleashed TOA imagery on data cloud platforms such as Google Earth Engine (GEE) and promoted monitoring after coastal disasters, such as debris dumping and algae blooms.