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Books in Environmental monitoring and analysis

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Understanding and Solving Environmental Problems in the 21st Century

  • 1st Edition
  • June 5, 2002
  • R. Costanza + 1 more
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 5 4 3 4 0 - 6
The aim of this book is to encourage integration of the natural and social sciences with the policy and design-making community, and thereby develop a deeper understanding of complex environmental problems. Its fundamental themes are:• integrated modeling and assessment• complex, adaptive, hierarchical systems• ecosystem services • science and decision-making• ecosystem health and human health• quality of life and the distribution of wealth and resources.This book will act as a state of the art assessment of integrated environmental science and its relation to real world problem solving. It is aimed not only at the academic community, but also as a sourcebook for managers, policy makers, and the informed public. It deals both with the state of the science and the level of consensus among scientists on key environmental issues. The concepts underlying this book were developed at the 2nd EcoSummit workshop held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, June, 2000, with active participation from all delegates, and attempts to present their collective view.

Environmental Foresight and Models

  • 1st Edition
  • Volume 22
  • March 20, 2002
  • M.B. Beck
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 5 3 1 0 6 - 9
Policy-makers and the public, it has famously been said, are more interested in the possibility of non-linear dislocations and surprises in the behaviour of the environment than in smooth extrapolations of current trends. The International Task Force in Forecasting Environmental Change (1993-1998) dedicated its work to developing procedures of model building capable of addressing our palpable concerns for substantial change in the future. This volume discusses the immense challenges that such structural change presents - that the behaviour of the environment may become radically different from that observed in the past - and investigates the potentially profound implications for model development.Drawing upon case histories from the Great Lakes, acidic atmospheric deposition and, among others, the urban ozone problem, this discourse responds to a new agenda of questions. For example: "What system of 'radar' might we design to detect threats to the environment lying just beyond the 'horizon'?" and "Are the seeds of structural change identifiable within the record of the recent past?"Meticulously researched by leading environmental modellers, this milestone volume engages vigorously with its subject and offers an animated account of how models can begin to take into consideration the significant threats and uncertainties posed by structural change.

Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems in Epidemiology

  • 1st Edition
  • Volume 47
  • August 25, 2000
  • John R. Baker + 5 more
  • English
  • Paperback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 3 3 3 5 6 0 - 9
Global problems require global information, which satellites can now provide. With ever more sophisticated control methods being developed for infectious diseases, our ability to map spatial and temporal variation in risk is more important than ever. Only then may we plan control campaigns and deliver novel interventions and remedies where the need is greatest, and sustainable success is most likely. This book presents a comprehensive guide to using the very latest methods of surveillance from satellites, including analysing spatial data within geographical information systems, interpreting complex biological patterns, and predicting risk both today and as it may change in the future. Of all infectious disease systems, those that involve free-living invertebrate vectors or intermediate hosts are most susceptible to changing environmental conditions, and have hitherto received most attention from the marriage of analytical biology with this new space technology. Accordingly, this volume presents detailed case studies on malaria, African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), tick-borne infections and helminths (worms). For those who are unfamiliar with this science, and unsure how to start, the book ends with a chapter of practical advice on where to seek hands-on instruction. The lessons to be learned from these studies are applicable to many other epidemiological and ecological problems that face us today, most significantly the preservation of the world's biodiversity.

Interlaboratory Studies and Certified Reference Materials for Environmental Analysis

  • 1st Edition
  • Volume 22
  • December 17, 1999
  • E.A. Maier + 1 more
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 5 3 4 8 8 - 6
The participation in interlaboratory studies and the use of Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) are widely recognised tools for the verification of the accuracy of analytical measurements and they form an integral part of quality control systems used by many laboratories, e.g. in accreditation schemes. As a response to the need to improve the quality of environmental analysis, the European Commission has been active in the past fifteen years, through BCR activity (now renamed Standards, Measurements and Testing Programme) in the organisation of series of interlaboratory studies involving expert laboratories in various analytical fields (inorganic, trace organic and speciation analysis applied to a wide variety of environmental matrices). The BCR and its successor have the task of helping European laboratories to improve the quality of measurements in analytical sectors which are vital for the European Union (biomedical, agriculture, food, environment and industry); these are most often carried out in support of EC regulations, industrial needs, trade, monitoring activities (including environment, agriculture, health and safety) and, more generally, when technical difficulties hamper a good comparability of data among EC laboratories. The collaborative projects carried out so far have placed the BCR in the position of second world CRM producer (after NIST in the USA).Interlaboratory Studies and Certification of Reference Materials for Environmental Analysis gives an account of the importance of reference materials for the quality control of environmental analysis and describes in detail the procedures followed by BCR to prepare environmental reference materials, including aspects related to sampling, stabilization, homogenisation, homogeneity and stability testing, establishment of reference (or certified) values, and use of reference materials. Examples of environmental CRMs produced by BCR within the last 15 years are given, which represent more than 70 CRMs covering different types of materials (plants, biological materials, waters, sediments, soils and sludges, coals, ash and dust materials) certified for a range of chemical parameters (major and trace elements, chemical species, PAHs, PCBs, pesticides and dioxins).The final section of the book describes how to organise improvement schemes for the evaluation method and/or laboratory performance. Examples of interlaboratory studies (learning scheme, proficiency testing and intercomparison in support to prenormative research) are also given.

Quality Assurance for Environmental Analysis

  • 1st Edition
  • Volume 17
  • January 13, 1995
  • E.A. Maier + 2 more
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 5 4 0 0 7 - 8
Quality assurance (QA) for environmental analysis is a growing feature of the nineties as is illustrated by the number of QA guidelines and systems which are being implemented nowadays. There is, however, often a huge gap between the implementation and respect of QA guidelines and the technical approach undertaken to improve and validate new analytical methods. This is particularly true for complex determinations involving multi-step methodologies such as those used in speciation and organic analyses.Quality assurance may also be considered from the technical point of view, which is the focus of this book. The techniques used in different analytical fields (inorganic, speciation and organic analysis) are critically reviewed (i.e. discussion of advantages and limitations) and existing tools for evaluating their performance are described (e.g. interlaboratory studies, use of certified reference materials). Particular reference is made to the activities of the Measurements and Testing Programme (BCR) of the European Commission towards the improvement of quality control of environmental analysis.The book has been written by experienced practitioners. By its nature, it serves as a practical reference for postgraduate students and environmental chemists who need a wide overview of the techniques used in environmental analysis and existing ways of evaluating the performance of relevant analytical methods. The critical discussions of the methods described, as well as the development of quality assurance aspects, makes it unique.

Carbon Isotope Techniques

  • 1st Edition
  • June 28, 1991
  • Eldor Paul + 3 more
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 5 0 0 7 4 - 4
Carbon Isotope Techniques is a hands-on introduction to using carbon isotope tracers in experimental biology and ecology. It provides an easy bench-top reference with many simple-to-follow protocols for studying plants, animals, and soils. The 11C, 12C, 13C, and 14C carbon isotopes are considered and standard techniques are described by established authors. This is a synthetic compilation of well-established techniques.Researchers and students in a wide range of disciplines spanning plant and soil science, agricultural chemistry, forestry, ecology, oceanography, limnology, biogeochemistry, anthropology, and archaeology will find Carbon Isotope Techniques a valuable resource.

Wildland Water Quality Sampling and Analysis

  • 1st Edition
  • December 28, 1990
  • John D. Stednick
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 9 2 6 0 3 - 2
This comprehensive reference combines sampling and analysis of wildland water in one text. It includes sampling techniques for precipitation, surface water, and ground water. Analytical techniques for common water quality constituents are described.

Systems Analysis and Simulation in Ecology

  • 1st Edition
  • January 28, 1975
  • Bernard C. Patten
  • English
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 6 2 7 3 - 4
Systems Analysis and Simulation in Ecology, Volume III, and its companion, Volume IV, grew out of a symposium, Modeling and Analysis of Ecosystems, held at the University of Georgia, 1-3 March 1973. The purposes of the meeting were to (i) review the status of ecosystem modeling, simulation, and analysis; (ii) provide a forum for interaction between U.S. International Biological Program (IBP) Biome modeling programs and selected non-IBP investigations involving systems approaches to ecosystem analysis; and (iii) identify and promote dialogue on key issues in macrosystem modeling. The volume is organized into two parts. Part I treats ecosystem modeling in the U.S. IBP. The introductory chapter is followed by five chapters describing grassland, deciduous forest, desert, tundra, and coniferous forest biome modeling. The concluding chapter is one of critique and evaluation. Part II is devoted mainly to freshwater ecosystems, grading into the estuarine system in the last chapter. The five chapters of this section encompass a simple thermal ecosystem, small woodland streams, a reservoir, one of the Great Lakes, a lake reclaimed from eutrophication, and a major estuary under stress of human impact.