The NOAA NCEI Global Marine Microplastics Database (1972-present)
Microplastics (i.e., plastics measuring less than 5mm) 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) marine microplastic data collection provides a global open access to marine microplastic 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.
Dataset Citation
- Cite as: Nyadjro, Ebenezer; Webster, Jennifer; Boyer, Tim P.; Cebrian, Just; Collazo, Leonard; Kaltenberger, Gunnar; Larsen, Kirsten; Lau, Yee; Mickle, Paul; Toft, Tiffany; Wang, Zhankun (2018). The NOAA NCEI Global Marine Microplastics Database (1972-present). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/NCEI-Marine-Microplastics. Accessed [date].
Dataset Identifiers
ISO 19115-2 Metadata
gov.noaa.nodc:NCEI-Marine-Microplastics
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Ordering Instructions | Contact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions. |
Distributor |
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information +1-301-713-3277 ncei.info@noaa.gov |
Dataset Point of Contact |
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information ncei.info@noaa.gov |
Time Period | 1972-04-20 to Present |
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates |
West: -180
East: 180
South: -72
North: 90
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Data Presentation Form | Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns |
Dataset Progress Status | Ongoing - data is continually being updated Historical archive - data has been stored in an offline storage facility |
Data Update Frequency | As needed |
Supplemental Information | Data in this collection has been kindly and freely provided by researchers and institutions from across the world and contains data from April 1972 and ongoing. |
Purpose | To provide a robust, open access, and long-term aggregation of marine microplastics data. |
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Last Modified: 2025-02-24T12:43:04Z
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov