Drones fight pollution of the DJI coastline

drone pollution Drones for pollution: DJI partners with boat owners to fight against coastal waste

By Ian M. Crosby, Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE

DJI has partnered with AnimaMundi Ocean Data Solutions and Lagoon to create the world’s first comprehensive coastal plastic waste database using drones. The project begins with drones flown by sailors participating in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), which kicks off in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands on November 21.

DJI supplies Lagoon with drones to measure plastic waste on Caribbean beaches. The drones will collect images for AnimaMundi’s automated processing to more effectively measure the extent of plastic waste pollution. These data will reveal whether or not efforts to disrupt the flow of plastic into our oceans are reducing pollution on our coasts.

With over 300 million tonnes of plastic produced each year, at least 8 million tonnes end up in our oceans, accounting for 80% of all marine debris, from surface water to deep-sea sediments. However, there is currently no aggregate data documenting the size, location and progression of the problem.

AnimaMundi has developed software that will automatically record, count and record the presence and number of plastic bottles on our shores in real time, captured through an application using photographs and drone images. The data is automatically uploaded, processed and stored on company servers and will be provided to those involved in ocean health projects, enabling measurable and results-driven impact.

“Just before the start of COP26, world leaders admitted that an annual target of $ 100 billion in climate finance will not be met until 2023,” said Matt Cooper, founder and CEO of AnimaMundi. “The need for urgent climate action is met by the need to ensure adequate and effective financing solutions. Big data like this will help determine priorities for action.

Lagoon, world leader in the sailing catamaran market and partner of the ARC rally since 2005, uses its “Club Lagoon” to encourage its owners to register for the program.

“Lagoon is proud to partner with AnimaMundi in this exciting data collection initiative using our ‘Club Lagoon’ as part of the solution,” said Thomas Gailly, Lagoon brand manager. “We have over 6 000 of our catamarans sailing the world and we can feel that our customers are more and more willing to play a role in such initiatives. It is stimulating to think that the community of Lagoon owners could be involved in the capture of this essential data in a very efficient manner.This partnership is the perfect complement to our own policy of respect for the environment and to all the work undertaken to reduce the environmental impact of our activities.

DJI, the world leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, provided the program with converted drones to use to capture images of the Caribbean coast that would otherwise be out of reach.

“Our drones and cameras allow people to capture incredible high-end professional photos, videos and images from all corners of the world,” said Olivier Mondon, senior communications manager at DJI Europe. “Every day we learn how drones benefit society as a whole, and we are proud that our drones are embarking on this environmental journey with experienced sailors who will be able to work with reused products to enable invaluable data capture.”

Starting with the Caribbean Islands, AnimaMundi is also finalizing a partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and its Plastic Waste-Free Islands (PWFI) initiative to generate weekly profiles of coastal plastic waste. islanders covering Grenada, Saint Lucia. , Antigua and Barbuda. With the help of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, IUCN launched the PWFI project in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Oceania in 2019, with the aim of promoting a circular economy and demonstrating effective and efficient solutions. quantifiable measures to tackle plastic leakage from small island developing states. .

Learn more about using drones for ocean research, drones for pollution, and drones for cleaning plastic.

Ian attended the Dominican University of California, where he graduated with a BA in English in 2019. A long-time passionate writer and storyteller with a keen interest in technology, he now contributes to DroneLife as a writer.

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