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CLEANER and NSF's Environmental Observatories (2006) / Chapter Skim
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2 CLEANER and the Observatory Approach
Pages 15-20

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From page 15...
... ) is to improve our understanding of the Earth's hydrologic and associated biogeochemical cycles across spatial and temporal scales -- enabling quantitative forecasts of critical environmental processes, especially those in human-stressed areas (e.g., urban)
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From page 16...
... These are examples of successful observatories where multidisciplinary teams advanced our understanding of hazardous waste remediation and natural attenuation. Such observatories were critical in the development of numerous environmental sciences including contaminant hydrogeology, environmental microbiology, biogeochemistry, and risk assessment.
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From page 17...
... Furthermore, since many of the manifestations of global climate change and other global trends on human society will be felt through impacts on aquatic systems, CLEANER also should be helpful in detecting and determining the impacts of climate change on environmental and engineered systems as well as offering new engineering approaches in an altered environment. Until the beginning of the industrial revolution, low-technology natural processes provided energy in support of the human economy.
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From page 18...
... The integration of social and biophysical data is a data infrastructure issue. For example, both social and physical data are collected increasingly by remote sensors linked to computer networks (e.g., satellite imaging, real-time traffic, usage monitoring)
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From page 19...
... We need more and better quality data to evaluate the impact of human activities on environmental processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales, including the effects of urbanization and engineering systems and changes in types and amounts of pollutants associated with changes in land and water use. Data are also needed to establish a clearer etiology between water quality and the magnitudes of extreme events.
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From page 20...
... From the integrated physical, chemical, biological, and socioeconomic data obtained from CLEANER's observatories, we should gain an improved understanding of how complex environmental systems function and interact with and are impacted by human activities. The data and understanding stemming from this observatory approach should allow for improved forecasting capabilities and understanding and lead to solutions to the impacts of urbanization and land and water use changes.
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Key Terms

  • environmental observatories
  • environmental observatory
  • proposed environmental
  • human economy
  • observatory approach

  • engineering approaches
  • environmental processes
  • complex environmental
  • improved forecasting
  • observatory network

  • cleaner observatories
  • engineering analysis
  • social data
  • sensors linked
  • forecasting capabilities

  • integrated physical
  • ecosystem functioning
  • cyberinfrastructure networks
  • environmental science
  • environmental resources

  • releasing water
  • adverse environmental
  • enhancing water
  • environmental risk
  • surface water

  • stressed environmental
  • environmental change
  • effective engineering
  • biophysical data
  • infrastructure data


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