Almost 26 million tonnes of plastic waste are generated in Europe every year and around 80% of marine litter is plastic, making it one of the most pressing environmental problems. Space-based remote sensing technologies and data, however, can play a significant role in detecting, tracking and mapping concentrations of plastics, identifying hotspots and sources of the litter, detecting proxies of potential plastic pollution and can contribute to the effective deployment of clean-up solutions.
The Cassini Maritime Prize awards €2.85 million to the three top proposals (€0.95 million each) presenting a data-driven marine or maritime digital application, which uses Copernicus data and/or Galileo/EGNOS signals in combination with other data sources in order to detect, monitor and/or track plastic pollution in rivers, lakes, shores and coastal zones and to support its removal in order to support the prevention of ocean pollution. The proposals must also able to withstand a demonstration in an operational environment.
Deadline for submission of applications is 03 may 2023. You can read more about the conditions for the Cassini Maritime Prize on the link as well as on the European Commission's Funding & Tender Opportunities portal.