February- our researchers have identified, mapped and surveyed five study sites around Nelson Mandela Bay for their Remote Sensing Project. Remote sensing is the science of measuring or gathering information about an object or some of its properties or characteristics from a distance, without being in direct contact with the area or object of interest. This is typically achieved using an aircraft, satellite, or with more recent advances- drones.
Using a drone, the researchers captured images of the five study sites, and these images will be analysed to assess the amounts of litter in the area. These same sites will be surveyed again at regular intervals to measure changes in the volume of litter. After the initial drone flights, the sites were classified using Geographic Information System software to divide the area into separate land categories, as well as calculate the percentage of litter in the area.
The remote sensing project is being used as a monitoring tool to evaluate SST’s awareness movements over the next three years as we hope to see a marked decrease in litter as a result of our education and public awareness campaigns.
