Northern Gulf Institute, Mississippi State University, 1021 Balch Blvd, Stennis Space Center, MS, USA.
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 1021 Balch Blvd, Stennis Space Center, MS, USA.
Sci Data. 2023 Oct 20;10(1):726. doi: 10.1038/s41597-023-02632-y.
Microplastics (<5 mm) pollution is a growing problem affecting coastal communities, marine ecosystems, aquatic life, and human health. The widespread occurrence of marine microplastics, and the need to curb its threats, require expansive, and continuous monitoring. While microplastic research has increased in recent years and generated significant volumes of data, there is a lack of a robust, open access, and long-term aggregation of this data. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) now provides a global open access to marine microplastics data on an easily discoverable and accessible GIS web map and data portal ( https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/microplastics ). The objective of this data portal is to develop a repository where microplastics data are aggregated, archived, and served in a user friendly, consistent, and reliable manner. This work contributes to NCEI's efforts towards data standardization, integration, harmonization, and interoperability among national and international collaborators for monitoring global marine microplastics. This paper describes the NOAA NCEI global marine microplastics database, its creation, quality control procedures, and future directions.
微塑料（<5 毫米）污染是一个日益严重的问题，影响着沿海社区、海洋生态系统、水生生物和人类健康。海洋微塑料的广泛存在，以及遏制其威胁的需要，要求进行广泛而持续的监测。虽然近年来微塑料研究有所增加，并产生了大量数据，但缺乏一个强大的、开放获取的、长期聚合这些数据的平台。美国国家海洋和大气管理局（NOAA）国家环境信息中心（NCEI）现在提供了一个全球开放获取的海洋微塑料数据的 GIS 网络地图和数据门户（https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/microplastics）。该数据门户的目标是建立一个存储库，以聚合、存档和以用户友好、一致和可靠的方式提供微塑料数据。这项工作有助于 NCEI 努力实现数据标准化、集成、协调以及与国家和国际合作者之间的互操作性，以监测全球海洋微塑料。本文描述了 NOAA NCEI 全球海洋微塑料数据库的创建、质量控制程序以及未来方向。
