Forecasting the stranded area of marine debris in Indonesian coasts using mobidrift model and floating drifter

Abstract

The problem of marine debris became a concern of world scientists that placed Indonesia as the second contributor of the world. Plastic litter that leaked from the land and came through the river is a major source of Indonesia marine debris. This marine debris is a serious threat for ocean and coastal ecosystems. The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of Indonesia supports the Presidential Regulation to reduce the plastic litter to 70% by 2025 by developing numerical modeling of marine plastic litter trajectory. Using a user-friendly web portal interface, we can simulate the trajectory of marine plastic litter from different points of source at different seasons. Wind, current, and tide data were used to force the particle on the simulation. The result of the model was compared with the record of the real time movement of twenty drifters that were released from three rivers mouth. The development of this trajectory model will become a useful tool to provide the information of the movement of marine debris in Indonesian sea waters and beyond. Knowing the path and stranded location in each season will improve our policy of planning and mitigate the impact of marine debris.