ABSTRACT
There is no great difficulty in measuring physical environmental sectors with data which can be analysed to produce reasonably reliable results. Each profession has its own technical methods of measuring physical attributes, ranging from seismic shots for oil exploration to counting migrant birds, and their description is beyond the scope of this book. Qualitative measurements of such sectors as visual effects of a development, loss of amenities, traffic hazards, and job opportunities are far harder to record and to analyse, and this section describes some of the techniques which may be adapted for dealing with these intangible but critical environmental effects.
