**6. References**

182 Environmental Monitoring

Engaging members of the public in a participatory role can actually produce programmatic cost savings, especially in those cases where significant computer resources or data entry is required, or in cases where environmental data must be collected from widely dispersed sites over a large geographic region. Technical tasks that require a minimal amount of training (such as the proper collection and replacement of an air filter sample at a CEMP station) can be accomplished by local residents, often on a voluntary basis, rather than sending technicians out on a regular basis at a significant cost to the monitoring program. Finally, the process of educating and training citizen participants can create a network of informal communicators who live and work within the communities that may have concern about future or past activities that necessitate environmental monitoring. These citizens can be equipped with the knowledge to become "lay-experts" on related issues of community concern, and can serve both as liaisons between their communities and those conducting monitoring activities, as well as points-of-contact for their neighbours, which can help to identify and defuse rumours or public tensions before they reach unmanageable proportions. While there are invariably some pitfalls that will arise as a result of increased public participation and transparency, the authors believe that the overall benefits conveyed by maximizing public involvement to the greatest extent practical generally far outweigh

Fig. 6. Residents of 23 communities in southern Nevada, south-eastern California, and south-western Utah in the U.S., most of whom are schoolteachers, come together for regular workshops that train them to become effective communicators on issues related to the

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Desert Research Institute of the Nevada System of Higher Education for funding for research and production of this manuscript. Work described for the Community Environmental Monitoring Program was accomplished through funding provided through the U.S. DOE, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office under contract number DE-AC52-06NA26383. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the citizens whose concern, curiosity, willingness, and volunteerism

monitoring of ionizing radiation in their communities.

assist and facilitate scientific endeavours worldwide.

any detrimental factors.

**5. Acknowledgments** 


**12** 

*Greece* 

**Monitoring Lake Ecosystems Using** 

**Macedonia, Greece** 

*3Geographer, Independent Researcher,* 

**An Assessment in the Region of West** 

Stefouli Marianthi1, Charou Eleni2 and Katsimpra Eleni3 *1Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration, Olympic Village, Acharnai, 2N.C.S.R. "Demokritos", Institute of Informatics & Telecommunications,* 

**Integrated Remote Sensing / Gis Techniques:** 

The environment and its land and water systems are put into constant stress through the various human activities, natural and climate processes. Water resource managers have long been incorporating information related to climate in their decisions. They also increasingly recognize that climate is an important source of uncertainty and potential vulnerability in long-term planning for the sustainability of water resources (Hartmann, 2005). These are leading to questions about the relative impacts of shifts in river hydraulics, land use, and climate conditions. Prospects for climate change due to global warming have moved from the realm of speculation to general acceptance. Climate change will have different effects on lakes. Lakes can be extremely sensitive to short- and long- term changes in the weather and so are intrinsically sensitive to climate change through a direct effect, or indirectly by affecting processes that take place in the catchment. Understanding the response of lakes to climate change is of great importance since year-to-year changes in the weather patterns can influence water quality and the ecological status of a lake in the terms of Water Framework Directive. Characterizing the heterogeneity and temporal change of water quality across surface waters is difficult through conventional sampling methodologies (Tyler et al., 2006). In situ measurements and collection of water samples for subsequent laboratory analyses provide accurate measurements for a point in time and space, but do not give either the spatial or temporal view of water quality needed for accurate assessment or management of water bodies (Schmugge et al., 2002). Traditional monitoring of water quality as well as other environmental parameters involves specialized personnel and both on site and laboratory analysis. Field measurements for monitoring the environment are expensive and difficult to conduct. For example, the water quality monitoring of lakes often includes the monitoring of water clarity using a Secchi disk. Therefore the use of Sechi Disk Transparency (SDT) has been widely adopted in many lake monitoring programs worldwide (Bukata et al. 1988;

Substances in surface water can significantly change the backscattering characteristics of surface water. Remote sensing techniques for monitoring water quality depend on the ability

**1. Introduction** 

Wallin and Hakanson 1992; Lee et al., 1995).

