Types of Environmental Monitoring

• Environmental monitoring provides both short- and long-term pictures of the health of the planet's ecosystems. It allows for scientists and volunteers to assess the health of our natural resources. Environmental monitoring helps to keep us informed about what is going on around us, helps lawmakers make decisions regarding environmental planning and policy, and can assist with ecosystem restoration and management. Environmental monitoring includes the extensive monitoring of an area's air quality, water quality and soil quality. Samples are collected, data is compiled, studies are conducted and reports are written on existing and potential problems that are discovered.

Air Monitoring

• Air pollution comes from many sources including man-made sources like vehicle emissions, factories and power plants. Natural sources like volcanic eruptions, wildfires and dust storms can also contribute to air pollution. The EPA classifies these pollutants and also monitors them. The purpose of air monitoring is to provide protection and assessment of an area's air quality. The Clean Air Act lays the base for air monitoring that is conducted at the federal, state and local levels. Scientists look for pollution trends and look for ways to better control the sources of toxic pollutants.

Water Monitoring

• The waterways in the United States are monitored by federal, state and local agencies. Universities and volunteers also take part in the vast efforts to preserve the quality of the water in the lakes, rivers, streams, reservoirs and oceans across the country. Students, scientists and volunteers collect water samples to observe trends that occur over time, identify problems that may be developing, and decide on the effectiveness of various pollution control programs. Water monitoring data also helps agencies to better direct their efforts to areas that are in need of the most attention as well as respond to emergencies like floods.

Soil Monitoring

• Soil monitoring is conducted to assess an area's long-term ecosystem sustainability. Three types of soil quality monitoring are performed: implementation monitoring, effectiveness monitoring and validation monitoring. Implementation monitoring measures the characteristics of soil before and after an activity; the results are compared to see if there has been any significant change in the quality of the soil. Results from studies that assess the moisture levels of soil can be used to help farmers conserve water, increase their crop yields and avoid extensive soil erosion and the resulting water pollution.