Reproduction of the Marine Debris Distribution in the Seto Inland Sea Immediately after the July 2018 Heavy Rains in Western Japan Using Multidate Landsat-8 Data

Abstract

Understanding the spatiotemporal environment of the ocean after a heavy rain disaster is critical for satellite remote sensing research and disaster prevention. We attempted to reproduce changes in marine debris distributions using multidate data of Landsat-8 spectral reflectance acquired immediately after a heavy rain disaster in western Japan in July 2018. Data from cleaning ships were used for screening the marine debris area. As most of the target marine debris consisted of plant fragments, a method based on the corrected floating algae index (cFAI) was applied to Landsat-8 data. Data from cleaning ships clarify that most of the marine debris accumulated in the waters in the northern part of Aki Nada, a part of the Seto Inland Sea. The spectral characteristics of the corresponding marine debris spectral reflectance obtained from the Landsat-8 data were explained by the FAI with band 5 (central wavelength: 865 nm) as the maximum value. Unlike traditional FAI, cFAI eliminated the effect of background water turbidity. The Otsu method was effective for the automatic threshold determination for cFAI. Although Landsat-8 data have limited spatial resolution and observation frequency, these data were useful for understanding marine debris distribution after a heavy rain disaster.