NASA EMIT Inspires Ocean Debris Tracking

In late 2025, NASA researchers using the EMIT imaging spectrometer aboard the ISS demonstrated the ability to detect plastic concentrations on land, and a NASA intern compiled an open-source spectral library of nearly 25,000 fingerprints covering 19 polymer types. The resource is intended to help design future airborne and satellite sensors and AI algorithms to map marine debris pathways and prioritize cleanups globally.