To prepare for future generations of space based sensors that could overcome these challenges, NASA intern and marine scientist Ashley Ohall led the creation of a comprehensive open source spectral reference library of marine debris. "My biggest hope is that people see remote sensing as an important and useful tool for marine debris monitoring," she said. These efforts aim to bridge the gap between localized sampling and a truly global view, turning scattered observations into a more complete and dynamic picture of marine debris pathways. The groundwork being laid by Ohall and her collaborators moves the agency closer to using advanced imaging spectroscopy and data analysis to monitor marine debris as it moves across the world's oceans. "Detecting marine debris is the kind of incredible challenge that NASA can help solve."