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Data-Driven Research Unit Lab
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The unit studies how ocean plastics move.
AboutAbout the lab
Investigating how microplastics are transported and formed
The Data-Driven Research Unit is one of the research units at the Center for Ocean Plastic Studies (COPS) of the Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University.
As a satellite research base of the Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, COPS promotes interdisciplinary and international research on ocean plastic pollution, microplastics, and ocean sustainability.
Professor Isobe, a faculty member of the unit, is particularly interested in the transport and formation processes of microplastics among the transport processes of drifting and beached debris.
Assistant Professor Kuroda studies seawater from the surface down to a depth of 1,000 m to understand how small microplastics are distributed in the ocean.
Key terms
- Microplastics
- Small plastic fragments less than 5 mm in size. They drift in the ocean and spread not only at the surface but also into deep layers.
- Particle tracking model
- A simulation that reproduces by calculation the movement of particles carried by ocean currents and wind. It is used to estimate where debris goes and where it comes from.
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
The unit investigates how plastic debris floating in the ocean, and the microplastics that originate from it, are transported, how they are formed, and how they are distributed in the ocean. It combines data obtained from observations with calculations from numerical models.
*Illustrative imageTransport and formation of ocean plastics
The unit investigates the transport processes of drifting and beached debris, with a particular interest in how microplastics are transported and how they are formed.
*Illustrative imageDistribution of microplastics below the sea surface
The unit collects seawater in the North Pacific from the surface down to a depth of 1,000 m and examines how the amount of small microplastics, 10–300 μm in size, relates to water layers and water masses. It also attempts to reproduce the distribution by calculation.
*Illustrative imageThe fate of floating expanded polystyrene debris
The unit investigates the amount and sources of expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) debris floating in the seas around Japan. It combines visual observations from training vessels and net sampling with a particle tracking model to explore the process by which the debris breaks down into smaller pieces.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Data-Driven Research Unit consist of faculty members at the Professor and Assistant Professor levels.As of 2026
- ProfessorAtsuhiko Isobe
- Assistant ProfessorIRFAN Tahira
- Program-Specific Assistant ProfessorMao Kuroda
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Micro-plastiques sur la plage de Famara aux Canaries (Ifremer )” Emina Mamaca / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Transport and formation of ocean plastics: “Plastic Ocean ( )” Kevin Krejci from Near the Pacific Ocean, USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Distribution of microplastics below the sea surface: “Large microscope used for counting microplastics found in water sample” Public domain. / Public domain (cropped)
- The fate of floating expanded polystyrene debris: “398 Styrofoam debris ( )” California Department of Fish and Wildlife from Sacramento, CA, USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Analysis-Driven Research Unit Lab): “River litter plastic fragments 1” Provincie Limburg/ Alf Mertens / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Field-Driven Research Unit Lab): “004 Beach pollution in Tenerife - Atlantic Ocean beach plastic garbage debris” Marek Ślusarczyk (Tupungato) Photo portfolio / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Atmospheric Environment Modeling Lab): “Measuring PM2.5 air pollution from a burning roadside garbage dump at Bhiwandi near Mumbai” Sumaira Abdulali / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Atmospheric Environment Science Lab): “Upperatmosphereresearchsatellite” NASA/MSFC / Public domain (cropped)
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