ABSTRACT
Monitoring of water, globally and within Europe, had been increased in the past decade and will continue to grow in the coming years to comply with legislative requirements such as the EU Water Framework Directive (EC, 2000), the Bathing Water Directive (EC, 2006), the Water Floods Directive (EC, 2007), the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (EC, 2008), and in response to the pressures of climate change, which will lead to resource scarcity, ocean acidification and water quality changes. Traditionally, monitoring of water relies on field studies using conventional manual sampling and subsequent laboratory analysis. These traditional methods are unlikely to provide reasonable estimates of the true maximum or mean concentrations for the physico-chemical variables in a water body to help scientists to better understand the natural environment. The use of a network of sensors (Sensor Web) in conjunction with advanced geographic information technologies offers the potential to reduce costs considerably, providing more useful, continuous monitoring capabilities to give an accurate idea of changing environment and water quality. In addition, Sensor Web can provide real-time information and contribute to a greater representation of long-term trends in aquatic environments, which can help operators better understand and subsequently better manage these resources (Greenwood et al., 2007).
