Floating Litter Monitoring App and web data management interface

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<b><i>Please note that this is not a call for tenders but a publication announcing the Contracting authority’s <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/40287" target="_blank">intention to publish a future negotiated low or middle valueprocedure. </a> </i></b><br></br>The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the Zero Pollution Action Plan require harmonised approaches and methodologies for the acquisition of comparable environmental pollution data over time and space. The quantification of floating macro litter at sea (and its input through rivers, as well as litter on the shallow seafloor) is in that context, a specific challenge, as it is currently depending on visual observations, which require specific tools and approaches in order to ensure comparable data output. A mobile computer application, based on the MSFD protocol for the monitoring of floating macro litter has been developed by JRC (supplied by ATOS) and used for environmental monitoring. It has been employed within the RIMMEL project for riverine litter input and within the EMBLAS project in the Black Sea, in the Mediterranean Sea, and as well in the Arctic for monitoring of floating macro litter at sea. This approach, so far used as a scientific tool, should now be made available to EU Member States and beyond, in order to facilitate the large scale data acquisition through scientists, and when applicable, citizens. The application will support the implementation of a harmonized monitoring scheme for floating marine macro litter at sea and in rivers, allowing the monitoring of surface floating litter. The web interface will in addition allow the upload of data on floating litter and shallow seafloor litter in a harmonised format through a data template. The new version will allow the availability of the app through official platforms for a wide public and provide additional functionalities.