Distributed environmental monitoring

With increasingly ubiquitous use of web-based technologies in society today, autonomous sensor networks represent the future in large-scale information acquisition for applications ranging from environmental monitoring to in vivo sensing. This chapter presents a range of on-going projects with an emphasis on environmental sensing; relevant literature pertaining to sensor networks is reviewed, validated sensing applications are described and the contribution of high-resolution temporal data to better decision-making is discussed

Polar Environmental Monitoring

The present and projected benefits of the polar regions were reviewed and then translated into information needs in order to support the array of polar activities anticipated. These needs included measurement sensitivities for polar environmental data (ice/snow, atmosphere, and ocean data for integrated support) and the processing and delivery requirements which determine the effectiveness of environmental services. An assessment was made of how well electromagnetic signals can be converted into polar environmental information. The array of sensor developments in process or proposed were also evaluated as to the spectral diversity, aperture sizes, and swathing capabilities available to provide these measurements from spacecraft, aircraft, or in situ platforms. Global coverage and local coverage densification options were studied in terms of alternative spacecraft trajectories and aircraft flight paths

State of Our Estuaries 2006

The 2006 State of the Estuaries Report includes twelve indicators intended to report on the health and environmental quality of New Hampshire’s estuaries. The New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) developed and now implements a Monitoring Plan to track environmental indicators, inform management decisions, and report on environmental progress and status. The Monitoring Plan describes the methods and data for 34 indicators used to determine if the environmental goals and objectives of the Management Plan are being met. For each indicator, the Monitoring Plan defines the monitoring objective, management goal, data quality objectives, data analysis and statistical methods, and data sources. Just as implementation of the Management Plan for New Hampshire’s estuaries involves the collaboration of many organizations and agencies, the NHEP Monitoring Plan relies on data compiled from organizations that are leaders in the management and protection of the state’s estuaries and coastal watershed resources

Environmental lobbying with imperfect monitoring of environmental quality

In this paper we present a two stage game of political lobbying for policies designed to enhance environmental quality. Unlike previous work which has tended to assume perfect monitoring of environmental quality in lobbying games we allow for imperfect monitoring of environmental quality. We characterize perfect public (politico-economic) equilibria in the game for the case of both perfect and imperfect monitoring of environmental quality and compare these with imperfect private monitoring of environmental quality. Results are discussed with respect to farmer behaviour in the context of non-point source pollution and implications for the political consequences of farm extension programmes highlighted.Game theory; public choice; imperfect public monitoring; imperfect private monitoring; non-point source pollution; agricultural extension and public education

Autonomous nutrient detection for water quality monitoring

The ever increasing demand for real time environmental monitoring is currently being driven by strong legislative and societal drivers. Low cost autonomous environmental monitoring systems are required to meet this demand as current monitoring solutions are insufficient. This poster presents an autonomous nutrient analyser platform for water quality monitoring. Results from a field trial of the nutrient analyser are reported along with current work to expand the range of water quality targets

Summary of Coastal and Estuarine Monitoring Programs in New Hampshire (2005)

The New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) compiles data from many coastal and estuarine monitoring programs to assess the status and trends of environmental indicators in the Great Bay and Hampton/Seabrook Harbor. The full list of NHEP environmental indicators has been published in the NHEP Monitoring Plan. The following catalog is a summary of the coastal and estuarine monitoring programs that provide data for NHEP indicators or for State water quality assessments. This list is limited to long-term monitoring programs that do not have an end date

Summary of Coastal and Estuarine Monitoring Programs in New Hampshire (2004), Trowbridge, P

The New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) compiles data from many coastal and estuarine monitoring programs to assess the status and trends of environmental indicators in the Great Bay and Hampton/Seabrook Harbor. The full list of NHEP environmental indicators has been published in the NHEP Monitoring Plan. http://www.state.nh.us/nhep/publications/pdf/nhepmonitoringplan-nhep-04.pdf The following catalog is a summary of the coastal and estuarine monitoring programs that provide data for NHEP indicators or for State water quality assessments. This list is limited to long-term monitoring programs that do not have an end date

Comparator Design in Sensors for Environmental Monitoring

This paper presents circuit design considerations of comparator in analog-to-digital converters (ADC) applied for a portable, low-cost and high performance nano-sensor chip which can be applied to detect the airborne magnetite pollution nano particulate matter (PM) for environmental monitoring. High-resolution ADC plays a vital important role in high perfor-mance nano-sensor, while high-resolution comparator is a key component in ADC. In this work, some important design issues related to comparators in analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are discussed, simulation results show that the resolution of the comparator proposed can achieve 5µV , and it is appropriate for high-resolution application