Environmental indices: theory and practice
All existing environmental index systems, along with principles for their design, application and structure, are included in this book. Chapter I introduces environmental data, presenting simple communicative approaches such as environmental quality profiles. It also describes the national monitoring activities that generate these data and discusses the difficulty of constructing meaningful environmental damage functions. Chapter II presents a new conceptual framework that is designed to embrace nearly all existing environmental indices, allowing the behavior of different index structures to be compared and probed in detail. Chapter III concentrates on air pollution indices, using the conceptual framework introduced in Chapter II to analyze and compare published air pollution indices. Chapter III also gives a detailed summary of the historical evolution and scientific basis for the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), which has been developed for uniform application throughout the United States. Computational aids for applying PSI to actual air quality data are included. Chapter IV covers water pollution indices, using the theoretical framework and concepts from Chapter II to examine today's water pollution indices; it also presents design principles for an ideal water quality index and discusses a candidate index structure. In both Chapters III and IV, the current air and water index usage patterns in the United States are described in detail. Finally, Chapter V presents conceptual approaches, such as quality of life and environmental damage functions, that extend beyond the traditional fields of air and water pollution. This book should serve as a basic reference for users wishing to apply indices to analyze environmental data.
- OSTI ID:
- 6681348
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
AIR POLLUTION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
ENVIRONMENT
REVIEWS
WATER POLLUTION
AIR QUALITY
DATA ANALYSIS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
EQUATIONS
FORECASTING
NOISE POLLUTION
QUALITY OF LIFE
STANDARDS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WATER QUALITY
DOCUMENT TYPES
MANAGEMENT
POLLUTION
WASTE MANAGEMENT
500100* - Environment
Atmospheric- Basic Studies- (-1989)
510100 - Environment
Terrestrial- Basic Studies- (-1989)
520100 - Environment
Aquatic- Basic Studies- (-1989)