μPLANET

Overarching Aim: The aim of the μPLANET project is the development of a robust modelling framework for assessing plastic-facilitated LRET of PACs. This framework will utilise state-of-the art advances in multimedia environmental fate modelling of MPs, integrate current (and future) knowledge on the fate and transport of both MPs and naturally occurring particles with similar properties and strengthen our understanding of the key processes that influence their LRET. Objectives: μPLANET has four specific objectives: (1) Refined parameterization of the coast to open-ocean mass transfer of MPs within the microBETR Global model, recently adapted for MPs under LRI ECO 48; (2) Development and application of riverine to ocean transport models aimed at supporting an improved evaluation of the relative strength of terrestrial MP sources of MPs and their transport to the ocean along with incorporation into microBETR; (3) Development of LRET metrics for screening and prioritizing the properties of MPs and a set of environmental scenarios needed to facilitate the evaluation of their LRET; and (4) integration of project outputs into a flexible tool that can be seamlessly incorporated into the modelling framework developed under LRI ECO 56.