• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.351-366
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to develop software for beach litter detection that includes a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and uses images taken by a micro-unmanned aerial vehicle. Videos were taken over Doomo pebble beach, Sogye pebble beach, and Heungnam sand beach on the northeast coast of Geojedo (Geoje Island), Korea. Still images of actual beach litter were obtained from the videos. The image processing involved preprocessing, morphological image processing, and image recognition. Comparison with still images showing beach litter demonstrated that the software could generally detect litter larger than 50 cm in size such as Styrofoam buoys and circular fish traps (excluding small pixel-size ropes). Combining the proposed method with the conventional surveying approach is expected to enhance the accuracy of beach litter detection. The new technique will also aid in predicting the amount of beach litter generated along coastlines, which is currently difficult to monitor.