Litter Selfie: A Citizen Science Guide for Photorecording Macroplastic Deposition along Mountain Rivers Using a Smartphone
, Anna Zielonka 2, Hanna Hajdukiewicz 1, Paweł Mikuś 1, Wojciech Haska 2, Mateusz Kieniewicz 2, Elżbieta Gorczyca 2 and Kazimierz Krzemień 2Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The authors present a citizen science guide to record litter found near the shore line of mountain rivers.
The manuscript is well written and the topic is described in detail. The fotos help to understand the sampling and documentation process via app - which is very important for the non-experts using it. The topic is of interest for the readers of "water" and has a high actuality. I can recommend the manuscript for publication with minor alterations.
Detailed points
P1 L3 I have a problem with the term "storage" which is used in the title and in the whole manuscript. Litter is not stored here to use or release it later. It is just a pollution. No storage action took place. The authors should consider to change storage into litter pollution or litter amout or just litter. Maybe accumulation would also fit.
P1 L3 I have another problem with the term "in mountain rivers". The litter is not recorded IN the river. It is counted along its shore line. I am familiar with litter floating on the surface or litter lying at the seabed. I am also familliar with litter counted at sea beaches or ingested by animals. To not mix up all these possibilities I would recommend to be precise and change the title into something like " .... recording amount of macro-plastic litter along the shores of mountain rivers ..." .
P1 L22: I think you mean "iii"
P2 L75: Who could these experts be? The authors? Employees of a specific institution? Please give examples.
P2 L79: I would suggest to describe here step by step how the app can be downloaded. Even if this might be regarded too simple by the authors, I think it is needed here because the app is the central topic. Please include something like" I, open google play store at your cell phone....II search for ..., III download app...., IV open app by clicking ...". After that please include a new figure showing the start screen of the app after opening. That is urgently needed.
P2 L79ff: You describe a three step procedure for the non-expert using your app. I would suggest "step 4 removing the litter items". For environmental protection the litter on the photos should be collected and taken out of the environment. As user I would expect that the app asks me to do so. From a data purpose you dont want the same litter to come back to you at the next foto. Please include step 4 (also in Fig1) or add an alternative statement how to proceed after taking the foto.
P7 L 160 ff you mention square kilometers here but with the wrong unit. The number 2 needs to be given in superscript.
Finally I would like to gave my compliments to the authors for this inspiring manuscript on an important topic. I enjoyed reading it.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Our Response to your comments and manuscript with tracked changes are attached.
Best Regards,
Maciej Liro
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The paper of “Litter selfie: A citizen-science guide to recording data on macroplastic storage in mountain river using a smartphone” resembles more of an instruction manual than a scientific research paper.
(1) What is the core principle of this technology? What properties of the plastic have been collected?
(2) Do characteristics of microplastics, such as color and shape, affect the identification process?
(3) Could the author please provide us with information about the accuracy of microplastic identification? What is the principle behind it?
(4) Do external factors such as natural light affect the identification process?
can be improved.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Our Response to your comments is attached.
Best Regards,
Maciej Liro
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
The author has made thorough revisions, and the current version is now acceptable.
