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MAJOR MONITORING NETWORKS: A FOUNDATION TO PRESERVE, PROTECT AND RESTORE
Citation:
Bradley, M P. AND F. W. Kutz. MAJOR MONITORING NETWORKS: A FOUNDATION TO PRESERVE, PROTECT AND RESTORE. Chapter 27, GB Wiersma (ed.), Environmental Monitoring. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL, , 605-630, (2004).
Impact/Purpose:
The objectives of this introductory chapter are to (1) lay out the challenges associated with the development of a major monitoring network; (2) discuss some conceptual models for environmental and human health monitoring programs; (3) present some examples of current major environmental monitoring networks; (4) present information on human health monitoring; (5) articulate additional factors critical to effective monitoring networks; and (6) discuss potential future developments in monitoring networks:
? U.S. Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNet)
? South African River Health Program (RHP)
? U.S. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP)
? U.S. Forest Health Monitoring Program (FHM)
A Fifth chapter will describe the U.S. Regional Vulnerability and Assessment Program (ReVA), which is designed to focus on integrating and synthesizing information on the spatial patterns of multiple exposures to allow a comparison and prioritization of risks.
Description:
MAJOR MONITORING NETWORKS: A FOUNDATION TO PRESERVE, PROTECT, AND RESTORE
Ideally, major human and environmental monitoring networks should provide the scientific information needed for policy and management decision-making processes. It is widely recognized that reliable, comparable, and useable measurement results are a key component of effective monitoring and successful sustainable development policies. Monitoring should drive the planning process and provide the necessary data to evaluate the results of programs that were created, and then provide feedback to show what remains to be done.
Previous sections of this book have focused on the conceptual basis of monitoring systems, media specific monitoring, statistical design and sampling, and assessment, indicators, and policy. This final section introduces major monitoring networks.