Remote detection and identification of plastics with hyperspectral Raman imaging lidar

Somekawa, Toshihiro*; Kurahashi, Shinri*; Matsuda, Shohei  ; Yogo, Akifumi*; Kuze, Hiroaki*

We report a hyperspectral Raman imaging lidar system that can remotely detect and identify typical plastic species. The system is based on a frequency-doubled, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser operating at 532 nm and an imaging spectrograph equipped with a gated intensified CCD spectrometer. Stand-off detection of plastics is achieved at 6 m away with a relatively wide field of view of 1 150 mm, thus providing the groundwork for better solutions in monitoring marine plastic pollution.