ABSTRACT
This chapter is the first of several presenting applications of monitoring to areas of environmental systems, such as atmospheric processes, hydrology and water quality, terrestrial ecosystems, and wildlife monitoring. This chapter focuses on atmospheric processes, including concentration of various atmospheric gases, as well as concentration of particles and aerosols. This chapter introduces nonlinear regression to model the dynamics of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and global temperature. Spectral characteristics of incoming solar radiation, particularly ultraviolet, are presented in conjunction with total column concentration of important atmospheric gases such as ozone. This chapter provides an overview of air quality standards, monitoring stations, and devices to measure important gases. An example of measuring total column of atmospheric gases from the ground is presented. This chapter ends with a discussion of weather, including common weather instruments, weather radar, and weather satellites.
