Liubartseva, Svitlana; Coppini, Giovanni; Causio, Salvatore; Campanati, Camilla: Averaged 2015-2024 plastic fluxes from the Mediterranean coastal population retrieved from the nighttime light imagery [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.987840 (dataset in review)

Due to strong concerns about plastic pollution in the Mediterranean Sea, source-related plastic fluxes have been estimated. We represent the fluxes from the coastal population, which make up more than 60% of plastics emitted into the Mediterranean (Kaandorp et al., 2020). The novel dataset is based on global nighttime light products, which provide a visual representation of humanity's presence. Data from the NASA/NOAA Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Platform (SNPP) are used as proxies for population-related plastic inputs that are difficult to map directly across a basin. We process the monthly cloud-free composites provided by the Earth Observation Group at the National Geophysical Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, US (Elvidge et al., 2017; doi:10.1080/01431161.2017.1342050). Four fundamental assumptions have been made: (1) plastic pollution is connected to light pollution; (2) annual plastic flux from the coastal Mediterranean population is set at 1000 tons (Kaandorp et al., 2020; doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c01984); (2) a 20-kilometer coastal belt is the zone where plastic emissions from coastal populations in the Mediterranean originate; (3) the country-specific correction factors are derived from Human Development Indices. (Mai et al., 2023; doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c02273). At a resolution of 15 arcseconds, the data quantify the averaged plastic fluxes 2015–2024 in kg per day from the coastal area to the sea. For user convenience, two datasets are provided: one with country-specific corrections and one without. The data are represented in seaward cells and are ready for modeling plastic transport in the Mediterranean Sea. The dataset can also be used to develop a source-specific observational strategy for plastic pollution.