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Environmental monitoring describes the processes and activities that need to take place to characterise and monitor the quality of the environment. Environmental monitoring is used in the preparation of environmental impact assessments, as well as in many circumstances in which human activities carry a risk of harmful effects on the natural environment. All monitoring strategies and programmes have reasons and justifications which are often designed to establish the current status of an environment or to establish trends in environmental parameters. In all cases the results of monitoring will be reviewed, analysed statistically and published. The design of a monitoring programme must therefore have regard to the final use of the data before monitoring starts. ==Air quality monitoring== Air quality monitoring is performed using specialized equipment and analytical methods used to establish air pollutant concentrations. Air monitors are operated by citizens,〔http://www.epa.gov/research/airscience/docs/air-sensor-guidebook.pdf〕〔http://go3project.com/network2/index.php/pages/home〕〔http://www.labucketbrigade.org/〕 regulatory agencies,〔http://www.epa.gov/ttnamti1/files/ambient/criteria/reference-equivalent-methods-list.pdf〕〔http://www.epa.gov/ttn/amtic/inorg.html〕〔http://www.epa.gov/ttn/amtic/airtox.html〕 and researchers〔http://www.aaar.org/index2.cfm?section=AST_Journal〕 to investigate air quality and the effects of air pollution. Interpretation of ambient air monitoring data often involves a consideration of the spatial and temporal representativeness〔http://www.enea.it/it/produzione-scientifica/EAI/anno-2013/1-2-gennaio-aprile-2013/methodologies-for-the-evaluation-of-spatial-representativeness-of-air-quality-monitoring-stations-in-italy〕 of the data gathered, and the health effects associated with exposure to the monitored levels.〔http://www.epa.gov/air/criteria.html〕 Since air pollution is carried by the wind, consideration of anemometer data in the area between sources and the monitor often provides insights on the source of the air contaminants recorded by an air pollution monitor. Close to the earth's surface, the atmosphere normally gets colder with height, but on certain days, the atmosphere begins to get warmer with height a short distance from the earth's surface, and air emissions build up under this "cap" on the vertical mixing. If radiosonde or wind profiler data is available near the monitoring site, it can help to establish whether or not an increase in monitored values is caused by this meteorological phenomenon, known as an Inversion. Topographic features (such as a valley) that prevent lateral atmospheric mixing, coupled with the vertical cap on atmospheric mixing caused by an inversion, can lead to especially high air pollutant concentrations, for example, the 1948 Donora smog. Air dispersion models that combine topographic, emissions and meteorological data to predict air pollutant concentrations are often helpful in interpreting air monitoring data. If an air monitor produces concentrations of multiple chemical compounds, a unique "chemical fingerprint" of a particular air pollution source may emerge from analysis of the data.〔http://www.epa.gov/air/aqmportal/management/modeling/receptor.htm〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Environmental monitoring」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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