FINALS

• Environmental monitoring


  Gathering, assessing and reporting environmental information obtained through continuous or periodic sampling, observation and analysis of both natural variation or changes and anthropogenic pressures and their effects on humans and the environment
• Environmental monitoring


  • It is a tool to assess environmental conditions and trends, support policy development and its implementation, and develop information for reporting to national policymakers, international forums and the public
  • It is a preparation of environmental impact assessment, as well as in many circumstances in which human activities carry a risk of harmful on the natural environment
• Knowledge staircase


  1. An individual is Trained and specific skills are acquired

  2. Observation and measurement is undertaken to acquire Data

  3. Data is gathered, which is tested and filtered to create Information

  4. Information is organized, analyzed and interpreted to create Knowledge

  5. Knowledge is integrated and comprehended to develop Intelligence and Understanding

  6. Intelligence and understanding is combined with judgment to development and impart Wisdom
• Purpose of environmental monitoring


  • To establish a baseline
  • To establish long term trends in natural unperturbed systems to establish natural baselines
  • To estimate inherent variation within the environment, this can be compared with the variation observed in another specific area
  • To make comparisons between different situations to detect changes
  • To make comparisons against a standard or target level
• Types of environmental monitoring


  • Baseline monitoring
  • Impact monitoring
  • Compliance monitoring
• EM Categories


  • Soil and soil gas monitoring
  • Water quality monitoring
  • Air quality monitoring
  • Biological monitoring
  • Radiation monitoring
  • Microbiological monitoring
• Who needs environmental monitoring? We all do.
• Monitoring is not second-rate science. Rather, it is an essential component of environmental science and deserves the careful attention of scientists and greater support from government agencies and other funding sources.
• If you are a scientist managing a monitoring program, your responsibility is to ensure that the data are of high quality, that data and methods are broadly accessible, and that the program is as cost-effective as possible.
• Population


  Measurable data is called a parameter, complete set, contains all members of specified group
• Sample


  Measurable quality is called a static, sample is a subset of population, reports have margin of errors and confidence level
• Spatial properties (spaces or landscape)


  • Measurements at the interface between two environments have two dimensions (X–Y) along a plane or surface. The third dimension is the Z axis away from the X–Y plane.
• Temporal properties (time)


  • Usually sample collection or measurements over time are defined with natural cycles such as daytime; nighttime; or daily, seasonal, or yearly intervals; seconds (or fractions), minutes, hours, weeks, or months.
• Unit


  Defines as the smallest sample or observation, it is considered to be "representative" of target component
• Types of environmental monitoring


  • Random
  • Systematic
  • Grab, search, or exploratory
  • Surrogate
  • Composite (bulking)
  • Path Integrated
  • Time Integrated
  • Remote sensing
• Environmental sampling


  • Destructive sampling
  • Non-destructive sampling

  
• Elements of a sampling plan with data quality objectives


  • Number and types of samples collected in space and time
  • Actual costs of the plan, including sample collection, analysis and interpretation
  • Data quality control and objectives
  • Implementation

  
• Types of errors


  • Random errors
  • Instrument calibration errors
  • Systematic errors or constant errors
• Basic rules for determining significant digits

  
• Rules for rounding off numbers

  
• Vadose zone


  The Earth's terrestrial subsurface that extends from the surface to the regional groundwater table. It includes surface soil, unsaturated subsurface materials, and a transiently inundated capillary fringe.
• The vadose zone may be very shallow (less than 1 m) or very deep (extending hundreds of meters or more), depending on the depth to the water table.
• When excess water percolates below the root zone, soluble constituents (nutrients and pollutants) can contaminate groundwater.
• Major soil properties


  • Soil Physical Properties
  • Soil Chemical Properties
  • Soil Biological Properties
• Soil texture and structure are important physical properties that influence soil water movement, aeration, and root growth.
• Vadose zone


  Includes surface soil, unsaturated subsurface materials, and a transiently inundated capillary fringe
• Vadose zone


  • May be very shallow (less than 1 m) or very deep (extending hundreds of meters or more), depending on the depth to the water table
  • Has low water content relative to the saturated zone below the water table and is therefore commonly referred to as the unsaturated zone
• When excess water percolates below the root zone

  Soluble constituents (nutrients and pollutants) can contaminate groundwater
• Major Soil Properties


  • Soil Physical Properties
  • Soil Chemical Properties
  • Soil Biological Properties
• Soil Physical Properties


  • Color, Texture, Structure, Density, Water holding capacity, Aeration

  
• Soil Chemical Properties


  • pH, Mineralogy, Clay chemistry, Cation Exchange Capacity, Base Saturation
• Soil Biological Properties


  • Organic matter, Organisms
• Soil texture and composition


  Determine how rapidly water percolates into groundwater habitats
• Impermeable layers, such as intact layers of shale or granite, do not allow water to flow deeper
• In very fine clays or those with large amounts of organic material


  The rate of percolation can be very low
• In gravel and sand


  Water has relatively rapid flow
• Infiltration capacity


  Partially determines the proportion of water that flows off the surface and the quantity that enters groundwater or the aquifer
• Rate of recharge


  The rate at which water percolates into an aquifer
• Infiltration rate can have important practical consequences, e.g. groundwaters can be contaminated when sewage sludge is disposed of on cropland if infiltration rates are high enough that contaminants enter groundwater
• Infiltration rate is an important aspect of determining sewage application levels