What is ecological monitoring of the environment. Basic principles of production and environmental monitoring of flora and fauna
Of great importance in the organization of rational nature management is the study of the problems of nature management at the global, regional and local levels, as well as the assessment of the quality of the human environment in specific areas, in ecosystems of various ranks.
Monitoring is a system of observations, assessment and forecasting, which makes it possible to identify changes in the state of the environment under the influence of anthropogenic activity.
Along with a negative impact on nature, a person can also have a positive impact as a result of economic activity.
Monitoring includes:
monitoring changes in the quality of the environment, factors affecting the environment;
assessment of the actual state of the natural environment;
forecast of changes in the quality of the environment.
Observations can be carried out according to physical, chemical and biological indicators, integrated indicators of the state of the environment are promising.
Types of monitoring. Allocate global, regional and local monitoring. (What underlies such a selection?)
Global monitoring allows assessing the current state of the entire natural system of the Earth.
Regional monitoring is carried out at the expense of the stations of the system, where information about the territories subject to anthropogenic influence flows.
Rational nature management is possible if the information provided by the monitoring system is available and properly used.
Environmental monitoring is a system for monitoring, evaluating and predicting changes in the state of the environment under the influence of anthropogenic impact.
Monitoring tasks are:
Quantitative and qualitative assessment of the state of air, surface water, climate change, soil cover, flora and fauna, control of runoff and dust and gas emissions at industrial enterprises;
Drawing up a forecast on the state of the environment;
Informing citizens about changes in the environment.
Forecast and forecasting.
What is forecasting and forecasting? In various periods of the development of society, the ways of studying the environment have changed. One of the most important "tools" of nature management is currently considered forecasting. Translated into Russian, the word "forecast" means foresight, prediction.
Therefore, a forecast in nature management is a prediction of changes in the natural resource potential and needs for natural resources on a global, regional and local scale.
Forecasting is a set of actions that make it possible to make judgments about the behavior of natural systems and are determined by natural processes and the impact of humanity on them in the future.
The main purpose of the forecast is to assess the expected reaction of the natural environment to direct or indirect human impact, as well as to solve the problems of future rational nature management in connection with the expected states of the natural environment.
In connection with the reassessment of the system of values, the change of technocratic thinking to ecological thinking, there are changes in forecasting. Modern forecasts should be carried out from the standpoint of universal human values, the main of which are a person, his health, the quality of the environment, and the preservation of the planet as a home for humanity. Thus, attention to living nature, to man makes the tasks of forecasting ecological.
Types of forecasts. According to the lead time, the following types of forecasts are distinguished: ultra-short-term (up to a year), short-term (up to 3-5 years), medium-term (up to 10-15 years), long-term (up to several decades ahead), ultra-long-term (for millennia and more). -Lee forward). The lead time of the forecast, i.e. the period for which the forecast is given, can be very different. When designing a large industrial facility with a service life of 100–120 years, it is necessary to know what changes in the environment may occur under the influence of this facility in 2100–2200. No wonder they say: "The future is controlled from the present."
According to the coverage of the territory, global, regional, local forecasts are distinguished.
There are forecasts in specific branches of science, for example, geological, meteorological forecasts. In geography, a complex forecast, which many consider general scientific.
The main functions of monitoring are quality control of individual components of the natural environment and identification of the main sources of pollution. Based on monitoring data, decisions are made to improve the environmental situation, build new treatment facilities at enterprises that pollute the land, atmosphere and water, change logging systems and plant new forests, introduce soil-protective crop rotations, etc.
Monitoring is most often carried out by regional committees for hydrometeorological service through a network of points conducting the following observations: surface meteorological, heat balance, hydrological, marine, etc.
For example, monitoring of Moscow includes constant analysis of the content of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide, the amount of nitrogen oxides, ozone and dust. Observations are carried out by 30 stations operating in automatic mode. Information from sensors located at the stations flows to the information processing center. Information about exceeding the MPC of pollutants is received by the Moscow Committee for Environmental Protection and the government of the capital. Both industrial emissions of large enterprises and the level of water pollution in the Moskva River are automatically controlled.
At present, there are 344 water monitoring stations in 59 countries in the world, which form the global environmental monitoring system.
Environmental monitoring
Monitoring(lat. monitor observing, warning) - a complex system of observations, assessment and forecast of changes in the state of the biosphere or its individual elements under the influence of anthropogenic influences
Main tasks of monitoring:
monitoring of sources of anthropogenic impact; monitoring the state of the natural environment and the processes occurring in it under the influence of anthropogenic factors;
forecast of changes in the natural environment under the influence of anthropogenic factors and assessment of the predicted state of the natural environment.
Classifications of monitoring by features:
Control methods:
Bioindication - detection and determination of anthropogenic loads by the reactions of living organisms and their communities to them;
Remote methods (aerial photography, sounding, etc.);
Physical and chemical methods (analysis of individual samples of air, water, soil).
environment. This system is administered by UNEP, a special body for environmental protection at the United Nations.
Types of monitoring. According to the scale of generalization of information, they distinguish: global, regional, impact monitoring.
Global monitoring- this is monitoring of world processes and phenomena in the biosphere and the implementation of a forecast of possible changes.
Regional monitoring covers individual regions in which processes and phenomena are observed that differ from natural in nature or due to anthropogenic impact.
Impact monitoring is carried out in especially hazardous areas directly adjacent to sources of pollutants.
According to the methods of conducting, the following types of monitoring are distinguished:
Biological (using bioindicators);
Remote (aviation and space);
Analytical (chemical and physico-chemical analysis).
The objects of observation are:
Monitoring of individual components of the environment (soil, water, air);
Biological monitoring (flora and fauna).
A special type of monitoring is basic monitoring, i.e. tracking the state of natural systems, which are practically not superimposed by regional anthropogenic impacts (biosphere reserves). The whole purpose of basic monitoring is to obtain data against which the results obtained by other types of monitoring are compared.
Control methods. The composition of pollutants is determined by methods of physical and chemical analysis (in air, soil, water). The degree of stability of natural ecosystems is carried out by the bioindication method.
Bioindication is the detection and determination of anthropogenic loads by the reactions of living organisms and their communities to them. The essence of bioindication is that certain environmental factors create the possibility of the existence of a particular species. The objects of bioindicative studies can be individual species of animals and plants, as well as entire ecosystems. For example, radioactive contamination is determined by the state of coniferous trees; industrial pollution - for many representatives of the soil fauna; air pollution is very sensitively perceived by mosses, lichens, butterflies.
The species diversity and high abundance or, conversely, the absence of dragonflies (Odonata) on the shore of the reservoir speak of its faunal composition: many dragonflies - the fauna is rich, few - the aquatic fauna is depleted.
If lichens disappear on tree trunks in the forest, then sulfur dioxide is present in the air. The larvae of caddisflies (Trichoptera) are found only in clean water. But the small-scale worm (Tubifex), larvae of chironomids (Chironomidae) live only in heavily polluted water bodies. Many insects, green unicellular algae, and crustaceans live in slightly polluted water bodies.
Bioindication allows timely detection of a not yet dangerous level of pollution and taking measures to restore the ecological balance of the environment.
In some cases, the bioindication method is preferred, since it is simpler than, for example, physico-chemical methods of analysis.
So, British scientists found several molecules in the liver of flounder - indicators of pollution. When the total concentration of life-threatening substances reaches critical values, a potentially carcinogenic protein begins to accumulate in the liver cells. Its quantitative determination is simpler than the chemical analysis of water, and provides more information about its danger to human life and health.
Remote methods are mainly used for global monitoring. For example, aerial photography is an effective method for determining the extent and extent of pollution from oil spills at sea or on land, ie tanker accidents or pipeline ruptures. Other methods in these extreme situations do not provide comprehensive information.
OKB im. Ilyushin, the aircraft builders of the Lukhovitsky Plant designed and built the Il-10Z, a unique aircraft to perform almost any task of state environmental and land monitoring. The aircraft is equipped with control and measuring and telemetry equipment, a satellite navigation system (СPS), a satellite communication system, an interactive on-board and ground-based measuring and recording complex. The aircraft can fly at altitudes from 100 to 3000 m, stay in the air for up to 5 hours, consumes only 10-15 liters of fuel per 100 km, and takes on board two specialists in addition to the pilot. The new Il-103 aircraft of the Aviation Center for Special Ecological Purposes, based at the Myachikovo airfield near Moscow, perform remote monitoring for environmentalists, aviation forest protection, emergency services and oil and gas pipeline transport.
Physical and chemical methods are used to monitor individual components of the natural environment: soil, water, air. These methods are based on the analysis of individual samples.
Soil monitoring provides for the determination of acidity, loss of humus, salinity. Soil acidity is determined by the value of the pH value (pH) in aqueous soil solutions. The pH value is measured using a pH meter or potentiometer. The content of humus is determined by the oxidizability of organic matter. The amount of oxidizing agent is estimated by titrimetric or spectrometric methods. Soil salinity, i.e., the content of salts in them, is determined by the value of electrical conductivity, since it is known that salt solutions are electrolytes.
Water pollution is determined by chemical (COD) or biochemical (BOD) oxygen consumption - this is the amount of oxygen consumed for the oxidation of organic and inorganic substances contained in polluted water.
Atmospheric pollution is analyzed by gas analyzers, which provide information on the concentration of gaseous pollutants in the air. “Multicomponent” analysis methods are used: C-, H-, N-analyzers and other devices that give continuous time characteristics of air pollution. Automated devices for remote analysis of atmospheric pollution, combining a laser and a locator, are called lidars.
Environmental quality assessment
What is evaluation and evaluation?
An important area of monitoring research is the assessment of the quality of the environment. This direction, as you already know, has received priority in modern nature management, since the quality of the environment is associated with the physical and spiritual health of a person.
Indeed, they distinguish between a healthy (comfortable) natural environment, in which a person's health is normal or improving, and unhealthy, in which the state of health of the population is disturbed. Therefore, in order to preserve the health of the population, it is necessary to monitor the quality of the environment. Environmental quality- this is the degree of compliance of natural conditions with the physiological capabilities of a person.
There are scientific criteria for assessing the quality of the environment. These include standards.
Environmental quality standards. Quality standards are divided into environmental and production-economic.
Ecological standards establish maximum permissible norms of anthropogenic impact on the environment, the excess of which threatens human health, is detrimental to vegetation and animals. Such norms are established in the form of maximum permissible concentrations of pollutants (MPC) and maximum permissible levels of harmful physical effects (MPL). Remote controls are installed, for example, for noise and electromagnetic pollution.
MPC is the amount of a harmful substance in the environment, which for a certain period of time does not affect human health and does not cause adverse consequences for its offspring.
Recently, when determining MPC, not only the degree of influence of pollutants on human health is taken into account, but also the impact of these pollutants on natural communities as a whole. Every year more and more MPCs are set for substances in the air, soil, and water.
Industrial and economic environmental quality standards regulate the environmentally safe mode of operation of a production, utility, and any other facility. The production and economic environmental quality standards include the maximum allowable emission of pollutants into the environment (MAE). How to improve the quality of the environment? Many experts think about this problem. Environmental quality control is carried out by a special state service. Measures to improve the quality of the environment. They are combined into the following groups. The most important are technological measures, which include the development of modern technologies that ensure the integrated use of raw materials and waste disposal. The choice of fuel with a lower combustion product will significantly reduce emissions of substances into the atmosphere. This is also facilitated by the electrification of modern production, transport and everyday life.
Sanitation measures contribute to the treatment of industrial emissions through various designs of treatment plants. (Are there treatment facilities at the nearest enterprises in your locality? How effective are they?)
The set of measures that improve the quality of the environment includes architectural planning activities that affect not only physical but also spiritual health. They include dust control, rational placement of enterprises (they are often taken out of the territory of a settlement) and residential areas, landscaping of populated areas, for example, with modern urban planning standards, cities with a population of one and a half million people need 40-50 m2 of green space , it is obligatory to allocate sanitary protection zones in the settlement.
To engineering and organizational measures include reducing parking at traffic lights, reducing the intensity of traffic on congested highways.
To legal measures include the establishment and observance of legislative acts to maintain the quality of the atmosphere, water bodies, soil, etc.
Requirements related to the protection of nature, improvement of the quality of the environment are reflected in state laws, decrees, and regulations. World experience shows that in the developed countries of the world, the authorities solve problems related to improving the quality of the environment through legislative acts and executive structures, which, together with the judicial system, are called upon to ensure the implementation of laws, finance large environmental projects and scientific developments, control enforcement of laws and financial costs.
There is no doubt that the improvement of the quality of the environment will be carried out through economic activities. Economic measures are associated, first of all, with the investment of funds in the shift and the development of new technologies that ensure energy and resource saving, and reduce emissions of harmful substances into the environment. The means of state tax and price policy should create the conditions for Russia's inclusion in the international system for ensuring environmental safety. At the same time, in our country, due to the economic downturn, the volume of introduction of new environmental technologies into the industry has significantly decreased.
educational measures are aimed at the formation of an ecological culture of the population. The quality of the environment largely depends on the formation of new value and moral attitudes, the revision of priorities, needs, and methods of human activity. In our country, within the framework of the state program "Ecology of Russia", programs and manuals for environmental education have been developed at all stages of obtaining knowledge from preschool institutions to the system of advanced training. Mass media are an important means in the formation of ecological culture. Only in Russia there are more than 50 types of environmental periodicals.
All activities aimed at improving the quality of the environment are closely interconnected and largely depend on the development of science. Therefore, the most important condition for the existence of all measures is the conduct of scientific research that improves the quality of the environment and the environmental sustainability of both the planet as a whole and individual regions.
However, it should be noted that the measures taken to improve the quality of the environment do not always bring a noticeable effect. An increase in the incidence of the population, a decrease in the average life expectancy of people, an increase in mortality indicate the development of negative environmental phenomena in our country.
Environmental monitoring is a set of observations that are conducted over the state in which it is, as well as its assessment and forecast of changes occurring in it under the influence of both anthropogenic and natural factors.
As a rule, such studies are always carried out in any territory, but the services involved in them belong to different departments, and their actions are not coordinated in any of the aspects. For this reason, environmental monitoring is faced with a priority task: to determine the ecological and economic region. The next step is to select information that is specific to the state of the environment. You also need to make sure that the data received is sufficient to draw the right conclusions.
Types of environmental monitoring
Since many tasks of various levels are solved during observation, at one time it was proposed to distinguish three areas of observation:
Sanitary and hygienic;
Natural and economic;
Global.
However, in practice, it turned out that the approach does not clearly define zoning and organizational parameters. It is also impossible to precisely separate the functions of the environmental observation subspecies.
Environmental monitoring: subsystems
The main subspecies of environmental monitoring are:
This service deals with the control and forecast of climate fluctuations. It covers the ice cover, atmosphere, ocean and other parts of the biosphere that influence its formation.
Geophysical monitoring. This service analyzes data on and data from hydrologists, meteorologists.
Biological monitoring. This service monitors how environmental pollution affects all living organisms.
Monitoring the health of residents of a given territory. This service observes, analyzes and predicts the population.
So, in general terms, environmental monitoring is as follows. The environment (or one of its objects) is selected, its parameters are measured, information is collected, and then transmitted. After that, the data is processed, their general characteristics are given at the current stage, and forecasts are made for the future.
Levels of monitoring the state of the environment
Environmental monitoring is a multilevel system. In ascending order it looks like this:
Detail level. Monitoring is carried out in small areas.
local level. This system is formed when parts of detailed monitoring are combined into one network. That is, it is already being conducted on the territory of a district or a large city.
Regional level. It covers the territory of several regions within the same region or region.
National level. It is formed by regional monitoring systems united within one country.
Global level. It combines the monitoring systems of several nations. Its task is to monitor the state of the environment throughout the world, to predict its changes, which occur, among other things, as a result of the impact on the biosphere.
Observation program
Environmental monitoring is scientifically justified and has its own program. It specifies the goals of its implementation, specific steps and methods of implementation. The main points that make up monitoring are as follows:
List of objects that are controlled. The exact indication of their territory.
List of indicators of ongoing control and acceptable limits of their changes.
And finally, the time frame, that is, how often samples should be taken, and when data should be provided.
The concept of environmental monitoring Monitoring is a system of repeated observations of one or more elements of the natural environment in space and time with specific goals and in accordance with a pre-prepared program Menn 1972. The concept of environmental monitoring was first introduced by R. Clarifying the definition of environmental monitoring by Yu.
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Lecture #14
Environmental monitoring
- The concept of environmental monitoring
- Tasks of environmental monitoring
- Monitoring classification
- Assessment of the actual state of the environment (sanitary and hygienic monitoring, environmental)
- Forecast and assessment of the predicted state
1. The concept of environmental monitoring
Monitoring is a system of repeated observations of one or more elements of the natural environment in space and time with specific goals and in accordance with a pre-prepared program (Menn, 1972). The need for detailed information about the state of the biosphere has become even more obvious in recent decades due to the serious negative consequences caused by uncontrolled human exploitation of natural resources.
To detect changes in the state of the biosphere under the influence of human activity, an observation system is needed. Such a system is now commonly referred to as monitoring.
The word "monitoring" entered the scientific circulation from the English-language literature and comes from the English word " monitoring " comes from the word " monitor ”, which in English has the following meaning: monitor, device or device for monitoring and constant control over something.
The concept of environmental monitoring was first introduced by R. Menn in 1972. at the UN Stockholm Conference.
In our country, one of the first to develop the theory of monitoring was Yu.A. Israel. While clarifying the definition of environmental monitoring, Yu.A.Izrael back in 1974 focused not only on observation, but also on forecasting, introducing the anthropogenic factor as the main cause of these changes into the definition of the term “environmental monitoring”. Monitoring environmenthe calls the system of observations, assessment and forecast of anthropogenic changes in the state of the natural environment. (Fig.1) . The Stockholm Conference (1972) on the environment marked the beginning of the creation of global systems for monitoring the state of the environment (GEMS / GEMS).
Monitoring includes the followingmain directions activities:
- Observations of factors affecting the natural environment and the state of the environment;
- Assessment of the actual state of the natural environment;
- Forecast of the state of the natural environment. And an assessment of this state.
Thus, monitoring is a multi-purpose information system for observing, analyzing, diagnosing and predicting the state of the natural environment, which does not include environmental quality management, but provides the necessary information for such management (Fig. 2.).
Information system / monitoring / management
Rice. 2. Block diagram of the monitoring system.
2. Tasks of environmental monitoring
- Scientific and technical support for observation, assessment of the forecast of the state of the environment;
- Monitoring the sources of pollutants and the level of environmental pollution;
- Identification of sources and factors of pollution and assessment of the degree of their impact on the environment;
- Assessment of the actual state of the environment;
- Forecast of changes in the state of the environment and ways to improve the situation. (Fig.3.) .
The essence and content of environmental monitoring consists of an ordered set of procedures organized in cycles: N 1 - observations, O 1 - estimate, P 1 - forecast and Y 1 - management. Then the observations are supplemented with new data, on a new cycle, and then the cycles are repeated on a new time interval H 2, O 2, P 2, U 2, etc. (Fig. 4.) .
Thus, monitoring is a complex structure, cyclically functioning and developing in time in a spiral constantly operating system.
Rice. 4. Scheme of functioning of monitoring in time.
3. Classification of monitoring.
- By the scope of observation;
- By objects of observation;
- According to the level of contamination of objects of observation;
- According to factors and sources of pollution;
- Observation methods.
According to the scale of observation
|
Level name monitoring |
Monitoring Organizations |
|
Global |
Interstate monitoring system environment |
|
National |
State system for monitoring the environment of the territory of Russia |
|
Regional |
Territorial, regional environmental monitoring systems |
|
Local |
City, district environmental monitoring systems |
|
Detailed |
Environmental monitoring systems for enterprises, deposits, factories, etc. |
Detailed Monitoring
The lowest hierarchical level is the level of detailedenvironmental monitoring, implemented within the territories and on the scale of individual enterprises, factories, individual engineering structures, economic complexes, deposits, etc. Systems of detailed environmental monitoring are the most important link in the system of a higher rank. Their integration into a larger network forms a local level monitoring system.
Local monitoring (impact)
It is carried out in heavily polluted places (cities, settlements, water bodies, etc.) and is focused on the source of pollution. AT
Due to the proximity to sources of pollution, all the main substances that make up emissions into the atmosphere and discharge into water bodies are usually present in significant quantities. Local systems, in turn, are combined into even larger ones - regional monitoring systems.
Regional monitoring
It is carried out within a certain region, taking into account the natural character, type and intensity of technogenic impact. Regional environmental monitoring systems are combined within one state into a single national monitoring network.
National monitoring
Monitoring system within one state. Such a system differs from global monitoring not only in scale, but also in that the main task of national monitoring is to obtain information and assess the state of the environment in the national interest. In Russia, it is carried out under the leadership of the Ministry of Natural Resources. Within the framework of the UN environmental program, the task was set to unite national monitoring systems into a single interstate network - the "Global Environmental Monitoring Network" (GEMS)
Global monitoring
The purpose of GEMS is to monitor changes in the environment on Earth as a whole, on a global scale. Global monitoring is a system for monitoring the state and forecasting possible changes in global processes and phenomena, including anthropogenic impact on the biosphere as a whole. GEMS deals with global warming, ozone layer problems, forest conservation, droughts, etc. .
By objects of observation
- atmospheric air
- in settlements;
- different layers of the atmosphere;
- stationary and mobile sources of pollution.
- Ground and surface water bodies
- fresh and salt water;
- mixing zones;
- regulated water bodies;
- natural reservoirs and streams.
- Geological environment
- soil layer;
- soils.
- Biological monitoring
- plants;
- animals;
- ecosystems;
- Human.
- Snow monitoring
- Background radiation monitoring.
The level of contamination of objects of observation
- Background (basic monitoring)
These are observations of environmental objects in relatively clean natural areas.
2. Impact
Oriented to the source of pollution or a particular polluting effect.
By factors and sources of pollution
1. Gradient monitoring
This is the physical impact on the environment. These are radiation, thermal effects, infrared, noise, vibration, etc.
2. Ingredient monitoring
This is the monitoring of a single pollutant.
By methods of observation
1. Contact methods
2. Remote methods.
4. Assessment of the actual state of the environment
Assessment of the actual state is a key direction in the framework of environmental monitoring. It allows you to determine trends in changes in the state of the environment; the degree of trouble and its causes; helps to make decisions on the normalization of the situation. Favorable situations that indicate the presence of ecological reserves of nature can also be identified.
The ecological reserve of a natural ecosystem is the difference between the maximum allowable and the actual state of the ecosystem.
The method for analyzing the results of observations and assessing the state of the ecosystem depend on the type of monitoring. Usually, the assessment is carried out according to a set of indicators or according to conditional indices developed for the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. Unfortunately, there are no unified criteria even for identical elements of the natural environment. For example, consider only a few criteria.
In sanitary and hygienic monitoring, they usually use:
1) comprehensive assessments of the sanitary state of natural objects based on the totality of measured indicators (Table 1) or 2) pollution indices.
Table 1.
Comprehensive assessment of the sanitary state of water bodies based on a combination of physical, chemical and hydrobiological indicators
The general principle for calculating pollution indices is as follows: first, the degree of deviation of the concentration of each pollutant from its MPC is determined, and then the obtained values are combined into a total indicator that takes into account the impact of several substances.
Let us give examples of the calculation of pollution indices used to assess atmospheric air pollution (AP) and surface water quality (SWQ).
Calculation of the air pollution index (API).
In practical work, a large number of different APIs are used. Some of them are based on indirect indicators of atmospheric pollution, for example, on the visibility of the atmosphere, on the transparency coefficient.
Various ISAs, which can be divided into 2 main groups:
1. Single indices of atmospheric pollution by one impurity.
2. Comprehensive indicators of atmospheric pollution by several substances.
To single indices relate:
The coefficient for expressing the impurity concentration in MPC units ( a ), i.e. the value of the maximum or average concentration, reduced to MPC:
a = Сί / MACί
This API is used as a criterion for atmospheric air quality by individual impurities.
Repeatability (g ) concentrations of impurities in the air above a given level by post or by K posts of the city for the year. This is the percentage (%) of cases when the specified level is exceeded by single values of the impurity concentration:
g = (m / n ) ּ100%
where n - the number of observations for the period under review, m - the number of cases of exceeding one-time concentrations at the post.
ISA (I ) by a separate impurity - a quantitative characteristic of the level of atmospheric pollution by a separate impurity, taking into account the hazard class of the substance through normalization for danger SO 2 :
I \u003d (C g / MPCs) Ki
where I is an impurity, Ki - constant for various hazard classes to reduce to the degree of harmfulness of sulfur dioxide, C d is the average annual impurity concentration.
For substances of different hazard classes Ki is accepted:
|
Hazard Class |
||||
|
Ki value |
API calculation is based on the assumption that at the MPC level all harmful substances have the same effect on humans, and with a further increase in concentration, the degree of their harmfulness increases at a different rate, which depends on the hazard class of the substance.
This API is used to characterize the contribution of individual impurities to the total level of atmospheric pollution over a given period of time in a given territory and to compare the degree of atmospheric pollution by various substances.
To complex indices relate:
The Comprehensive Urban Air Pollution Index (CIPA) is a quantitative measure of the level of air pollution generated by n substances present in the atmosphere of the city:
KIZA=
where II - unit index of air pollution by the i-th substance.
The complex index of air pollution by priority substances - a quantitative characteristic of the level of air pollution by priority substances that determine air pollution in cities, is calculated similarly to the KIZA.
Calculations of the natural water pollution index (WPI)can also be done in several ways.
Let us give as an example the calculation method recommended by the normative document, which is an integral part of the Rules for the Protection of Surface Waters (1991) - SanPiN 4630-88.
First, the measured concentrations of pollutants are grouped according to the limiting signs of harmfulness - LPV (organoleptic, toxicological and general sanitary). Then, for the first and second (organoleptic and toxicological LPV) groups, the degree of deviation (A i ) actual concentrations of substances ( C i ) from their MPC i , the same as for atmospheric air ( A i = C i / MPC i ). Next, find the sum of the indicators A i , for the first and second groups of substances:
where S is the sum of A i for substances regulated by organoleptic ( S org ) and toxicological ( S tox ) LPV; n - number of summarized indicators of water quality.
In addition, to determine the WPI, the value of oxygen dissolved in water and BOD are used. 20 (general sanitary LPV), bacteriological indicator - the number of lactose-positive Escherichia coli (LPKP) in 1 liter of water, smell and taste. The water pollution index is determined in accordance with the hygienic classification of water bodies according to the degree of pollution (Table 2).
Comparing the corresponding indicators ( S org , S tox , BOD 20 etc.) with evaluation ones (see Table 2), determine the pollution index, the degree of pollution of the water body and the water quality class. The pollution index is determined by the most stringent value of the estimated indicator. So, if according to all indicators the water belongs to the I quality class, but the oxygen content in it is less than 4.0 mg/l (but more than 3.0 mg/l), then the WPI of such water should be taken as 1 and attributed to the II class quality (moderate degree of pollution).
Types of water use depend on the degree of water pollution in a water body (Table 3).
Table 2.
Hygienic classification of water bodies according to the degree of pollution (according to SanPiN 4630-88)
Table 3
Possible types of water use depending on the degree of pollution of the water body (according to SanPiN 4630-88)
|
Degree of pollution |
Possible use of a single object |
|
Permissible |
Suitable for all types of water use of the population with virtually no restrictions |
|
Moderate |
Indicates the danger of using a water body for cultural and domestic chains. Use as a source of domestic and drinking water supply without reducing the level: chemical pollution at water treatment facilities can lead to initial symptoms of intoxication in a part of the population, especially in the presence of substances of the 1st and 2nd hazard classes |
|
high |
Unconditional danger of cultural and domestic water use at a water body. It is unacceptable to use it as a source of domestic and drinking water supply due to the difficulty of removing toxic substances in the process of water treatment. Drinking water can lead to the appearance of symptoms of intoxication and the development of separated effects, especially in the presence of substances of the 1st and 2nd hazard classes. |
|
Extremely high |
Absolute unsuitability for all types of water use. Even short-term use of water in a water body is dangerous for public health |
In the services of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, to assess water quality, they use the method of calculating WPI only by chemical indicators, but taking into account more stringent fishery MPCs. At the same time, not 4, but 7 quality classes are distinguished:
I - very pure water (WPI = 0.3);
II - pure (WPI = 0.3 - 1.0);
III - moderately polluted (WPI = 1.0 - 2.5);
IV - polluted (WPI = 2.5 - 4.0);
V - dirty (WPI = 4.0 - 6.0);
VI - very dirty (WPI = 6.0 - 10.0);
VII - extremely dirty (WPI over 10.0).
Assessment of the level of chemical contamination of the soilis carried out according to the indicators developed in geochemical and geohygienic studies. These indicators are:
- chemical concentration factor (K i ),
K i \u003d C i / C fi
where C i is the actual content of the analyte in the soil, mg/kg;
C fi – regional background content of the substance in the soil, mg/kg.
In the presence of MPC i for the soil type under consideration, K i determined by the multiplicity of exceeding the hygienic standard, i.e. according to the formula
K i = С i / MPC i
- total pollution index Z c , which is determined by the sum of the chemical concentration coefficients:
Zc \u003d ∑ K i - (n -1)
Where n is the number of pollutants in the soil, K i - concentration factor.
An approximate rating scale for the danger of soil pollution in terms of the total indicator is presented in Table. 3.
Table 3
|
Danger |
Change in health |
|
|
admissible |
16 |
low morbidity in children, minimum functional deviations |
|
moderately dangerous |
16-32 |
an increase in the overall incidence |
|
dangerous |
32-128 |
an increase in the overall incidence rate; an increase in the number of sick children, children with chronic diseases, disorders of the cardiovascular system |
|
extremely dangerous |
128 |
an increase in the overall incidence rate; increase in the number of sick children, impaired reproductive function |
Environmental monitoring is of particular importance in the global systemmonitoring of the environment and, first of all, in the monitoring of renewable resources of the biosphere. It includes observations of the ecological state of terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems.
As criteria characterizing changes in the state of natural systems, the following can be used: the balance of production and destruction; the value of primary production, the structure of the biocenosis; the rate of circulation of nutrients, etc. All these criteria are numerically expressed by various chemical and biological indicators. Thus, changes in the vegetation cover of the Earth are determined by changes in the area of forests.
The main result of environmental monitoring should be an assessment of the responses of ecosystems as a whole to anthropogenic disturbances.
The response, or reaction of an ecosystem, is a change in its ecological state in response to external influences. It is best to evaluate the reaction of the system by the integral indicators of its state, which can be used as various indices and other functional characteristics. Let's consider some of them:
1. One of the most common responses of aquatic ecosystems to anthropogenic impacts is eutrophication. Therefore, monitoring the change in indicators that integrally reflect the degree of eutrophication of a reservoir, for example, pH 100% , - the most important element of environmental monitoring.
2. The response to "acid rain" and other anthropogenic impacts may be a change in the structure of biocenoses of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. To assess such a response, various indices of species diversity are widely used, reflecting the fact that under any adverse conditions, the diversity of species in the biocenosis decreases, and the number of resistant species increases.
Dozens of such indices have been proposed by various authors. Indices based on information theory have found the greatest use, for example, the Shannon index:
where N - total number of individuals; S - number of species; N i - the number of individuals of the i -th species.
In practice, one does not deal with the abundance of a species in the entire population (in a sample), but with the abundance of a species in a sample; replacing N i /N by n i / n , we get:
The maximum diversity is observed when the numbers of all species are equal, and the minimum - when all species, except for one, are represented by one specimen. Diversity indices ( d ) reflect the structure of the community, weakly depend on the sample size, and are dimensionless.
Yu. L. Wilm (1970) calculated the Shannon diversity indices ( d ) in 22 uncontaminated and 21 polluted sections of different US rivers. In uncontaminated areas, the index ranged from 2.6 to 4.6, and in contaminated areas - from 0.4 to 1.6.
Assessment of the state of ecosystems in terms of species diversity is applicable to any types of impacts and any ecosystems.
3. The reaction of the system can manifest itself in a decrease in its resistance to anthropogenic stresses. As a universal integral criterion for assessing the stability of ecosystems, V. D. Fedorov (1975) proposed a function called a measure of homeostasis and equal to the ratio of functional indicators (for example, pH 100% or rate of photosynthesis) to structural (diversity indices).
A feature of ecological monitoring is that the effects of impacts, hardly noticeable when studying an individual organism or species, are revealed when considering the system as a whole.
5. Forecast and assessment of the predicted state
The forecast and assessment of the predicted state of ecosystems and the biosphere are based on the results of environmental monitoring in the past and present, the study of information series of observations and the analysis of trends in changes.
At the initial stage, it is necessary to predict changes in the intensity of sources of impacts and pollution, to predict the degree of their influence: to predict, for example, the amount of pollutants in various media, their distribution in space, changes in their properties and concentrations over time. To make such forecasts, data on human activity plans are needed.
The next stage is the forecast of possible changes in the biosphere under the influence of existing pollution and other factors, since changes that have already occurred (especially genetic ones) can act for many more years. An analysis of the predicted state allows choosing priority environmental measures and making adjustments to economic activities at the regional level.
Forecasting the state of ecosystems is a necessary ringing in the management of the quality of the natural environment.
In assessing the ecological state of the biosphere on a global scale by integral features (averaged over space and time), remote observation methods play an exceptional role. Leading among them are methods based on the use of space facilities. For these purposes, special satellite systems are being created (Meteor in Russia, Landsat in the USA, etc.). Synchronous three-level observations with the help of satellite systems, aircraft and ground services are especially effective. They allow obtaining information about the state of forests, agricultural land, sea phytoplankton, soil erosion, urban areas, redistribution of water resources, atmospheric pollution, etc. For example, there is a correlation between the spectral brightness of the planet’s surface and the humus content in soils and their salinity.
Space photography provides ample opportunities for geobotanical zoning; makes it possible to judge the growth of the population by the areas of settlements; energy consumption by the brightness of night lights; clearly identify dust layers and temperature anomalies associated with radioactive decay; fix increased concentrations of chlorophyll in water bodies; detect forest fires and much more.
in Russia since the late 1960s. there is a unified nationwide system for monitoring and control of environmental pollution. It is based on the principle of the complexity of observations of natural environments in terms of hydrometeorological, physicochemical, biochemical and biological parameters. Observations are built on a hierarchical principle.
The first stage is local observation points serving the city, region and consisting of control and measuring stations and a computer center for collecting and processing information (CSI). Then the data goes to the second level - regional (territorial), from where the information is transferred to local interested organizations. The third level is the Main Data Center, which collects and summarizes information on a national scale. For this, PCs are now widely used and digital raster maps are created.
Currently, the Unified State Environmental Monitoring System (EGSEM) is being created, the purpose of which is to issue objective comprehensive information about the state of the environment. USSEM includes monitoring: sources of anthropogenic impact on the environment; pollution of the abiotic component of the natural environment; biotic component of the natural environment.
EGSEM provides for the creation of environmental information services. Monitoring is carried out by the State Observation Service (GOS).
Atmospheric air observations in 1996 were carried out in 284 cities at 664 posts. As of January 1, 1996, the monitoring network for pollution of surface waters of the Russian Federation consisted of 1928 points, 2617 alignments, 2958 verticals, 3407 horizons located on 1363 water bodies (1979 - 1200 water bodies); of these - 1204 watercourses and 159 reservoirs. Within the framework of the State Monitoring of the Geological Environment (GMGS), the observation network included 15,000 groundwater observation points, 700 observation sites for dangerous exogenous processes, 5 polygons and 30 wells for studying earthquake precursors.
Among all the blocks of the USSEM, the most complex and least developed not only in Russia, but also in the world is the monitoring of the biotic component. There is no single methodology for the use of living objects either for assessing or for regulating the quality of the environment. Therefore, the primary task is to determine the biotic indicators for each of the monitoring blocks at the federal and territorial levels in a differentiated way for terrestrial, water and soil ecosystems.
To manage the quality of the natural environment, it is important not only to have information about its state, but also to determine the damage from anthropogenic impacts, economic efficiency, environmental protection measures, and own economic mechanisms for protecting the natural environment.
actual condition
environment
The state of the environment
environments
Behind the state
environment
And the factors on
affecting her
Forecast
mark
Observations
Monitoring
observations
Status forecast
Assessment of the actual state
Estimation of the predicted state
Environmental quality regulation
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING
TASK
GOAL
OBSERVATION
GRADE
FORECAST
DECISION-MAKING
STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
DETECTION
behind the change in the state of the environment
proposed environmental changes
observed changes and identification of the effect of human activity
causes of environmental change associated with human activities
to prevent
negative consequences of human activities
optimal relationship between society and the environment
Fig.3. Main tasks and purpose of monitoring
H 1
About 2
H 2
P 1
About 1
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Introduction
For a long time, observations were made only of changes in the state of the natural environment due to natural (natural) causes. In recent decades, the impact of man on the environment has sharply increased all over the world, it has become obvious that the uncontrolled exploitation of nature can lead to very serious negative consequences. In this regard, there is an even greater need for detailed information about the state of the biosphere.
It is known that the state of the biosphere changes under the influence of natural and anthropogenic influences. The state of the biosphere, which is constantly changing under the influence of natural causes, as a rule, returns to its original state (changes in temperature and pressure, air and soil humidity, the fluctuations of which mainly occur around some relatively constant average values, seasonal changes in the biomass of vegetation and animals, etc. .). The average values characterizing the state of the biosphere (its climatic characteristics in any region of the globe, the natural composition of various environments, the circulation of water, carbon and other substances, global biological productivity) change significantly only over a very long time (thousands, sometimes even hundreds of thousands and millions years). Large equilibrium ecological systems, geosystems, under the influence of natural processes, also change extremely slowly.
Changes in the state of the biosphere under the influence of anthropogenic factors can occur very quickly. Thus, the changes that have occurred for these reasons in some elements of the biosphere over the past few decades are comparable to some natural changes that occur over thousands and even millions of years. Natural changes in the state of the environment, both short-term and long-term, are largely observed and studied by geophysical services existing in many countries (hydrometeorological, seismic, ionospheric, gravimetric, magnetometric, etc.). In order to single out anthropogenic changes against the background of natural (natural) changes, it became necessary to organize special observations of changes in the state of the biosphere under the influence of human activity. The system of repeated observations of one or more elements of the natural environment in space and time for certain purposes, in accordance with a pre-prepared program, was proposed to be called monitoring.
1. Basic concepts about monitoring
The term "monitoring" appeared before the Stockholm UN Conference on the Environment (Stockholm, June 5-16, 1972). The first proposals for such a system were developed by experts from a special commission of SCOPE (Scientific Committee on Environmental Problems) in 1971. This term appeared in opposition to and in addition to the term "control", which included not only observation and obtaining information, but and elements of active actions, controls. Monitoring of anthropogenic changes in the natural environment should be considered a system of observations that allows you to identify changes in the state of the biosphere under the influence of human activity.
The monitoring system can cover both local areas and the globe as a whole (global monitoring). The main feature of the global monitoring system is the possibility, based on the data of this system, to assess the state of the biosphere on a global scale.
National monitoring is usually referred to as a monitoring system within a single state; such a system differs from global monitoring not only in scale, but also in that the main task of national monitoring is to obtain information and assess the state of the environment in the national interest. Thus, an increase in the level of atmospheric pollution in individual cities or industrial areas may not be significant for assessing the state of the biosphere on a global scale, but it seems to be an important issue for taking measures in this area, measures at the national level. The global monitoring system should be based on the national monitoring subsystems and include elements of these subsystems. The term "transboundary" or "international" monitoring is sometimes used. Apparently, it is most correct to use this term for monitoring systems used in the interests of several states (to consider issues of transboundary transfer of pollution between states, etc.).
In Russia, the monitoring system is implemented at several levels:
Impact (study of strong impacts on a local scale);
Regional (manifestation of the problems of migration and transformation of pollutants, the combined impact of various factors characteristic of the region's economy);
Background (on the basis of biosphere reserves, where any economic activity is excluded).
So, monitoring is a multi-purpose information system. Its main tasks are: monitoring the state of the biosphere, assessing and forecasting its state; determination of the degree of anthropogenic impact on the environment, identification of factors and sources of such impact, as well as the degree of their impact.
Monitoring includes the following main areas of activity:
1) monitoring the factors affecting the natural environment and the state of the environment;
2) assessment of the actual state of the natural environment;
3) forecast of the state of the natural environment and assessment of this state.
Thus, monitoring- this is a system of observations, assessment and forecast of the state of the natural environment, which does not include environmental quality management.
2. Biological monitoring
The main task of biological monitoring is to determine the state of the biotic component of the biosphere, its response, response to anthropogenic impact, determine the function of the state and the deviation of this function from the normal natural state at various levels of organization of biosystems.
The study of the content of various ingredients in biota can only conditionally be attributed to biological monitoring. This question refers to the measurement of pollutants in various media. Biological monitoring can also include observations of the state of the biosphere with the help of biological indicators.
Biological monitoring includes monitoring of living organisms-populations (in terms of their number, biomass, density and other functional and structural features) affected. In this monitoring subsystem, it is advisable to highlight the following observations:
a) the state of human health, the impact of the environment on humans (medical and biological monitoring);
b) for the most important populations, both in terms of the existence of an ecosystem that characterizes the well-being of a particular ecosystem by its state, and in terms of great economic value (for example, valuable varieties of fish);
c) behind the most sensitive to this type of impact (or to complex impact) populations (for example, vegetation to the impact of sulfur dioxide) or for "critical" populations in relation to this impact (for example, epishura zooplankton in Lake Baikal to discharges of pulp mills) ;
d) for indicator populations (for example, lichens).
A special place in biological monitoring should be occupied by genetic monitoring (observation of possible changes in hereditary traits in different populations).
Ecological monitoring (global monitoring of the biosphere) is more universal, it generalizes the results of both biological and geophysical monitoring at the level of ecological systems.
At present, the system of biological monitoring of surface waters (hydrobiological monitoring) and forests is the most developed. However, even in these areas, biological monitoring lags significantly behind the monitoring of abiotic characteristics of the environment - both in terms of methodological, methodological and regulatory support, and in terms of the number of observations. For example: 1166 water bodies are covered by observations of pollution of surface waters of the land in terms of hydrochemical indicators. Sampling is carried out at 1699 points (2342 sections) according to physical and chemical indicators with simultaneous determination of hydrological indicators. At the same time, observations of the pollution of surface waters of land in terms of hydrobiological indicators are carried out only in five hydrographic regions, at 81 water bodies (in 170 sections), and the observation program includes from 2 to 6 indicators.
The State Committee for Fisheries of Russia (the creation of the Unified State System for Monitoring Aquatic Biological Resources, Observing and Controlling the Activities of Russian and Foreign Fishing Vessels Using Space Communications and Specialized Information Technologies) takes part in the work on the creation of the Unified State System of Environmental Monitoring (EGSEM). Monitoring of aquatic biological resources provides for:
Monitoring of wildlife objects belonging to fishery objects;
Monitoring the state of pollution of bioresources of fishery reservoirs of the Russian Federation and their habitat;
Information bulletin "Radiation situation in the fishing areas of the World Ocean";
Branch cadastre of commercial fish of the Russian Federation.
3. Justification of the need to performbiological monitoring
The soil and vegetation cover, as a single biosphere system, adequately responds to changes in the situation in the earth's surface and is a reliable indicator characterizing changes in environmental conditions at coal mining enterprises that are closed. Monitoring observations of soil and vegetation are carried out on permanent sample plots (control points), the number and spatial distribution of which is determined during the reconnaissance survey of the section area. The repetition of sampling for laboratory analyzes is not the same for all indicators, it depends on mobility and dynamics. Vegetation monitoring takes into account the species composition, projective cover, vitality, phytomass of plant communities by constituent economic groups.
The frequency of study of vegetation is determined by the degree of technogenic impact and is determined during the laying of test sites, it can be from one year (in zones of maximum impact) to 2-3 years under more benign conditions. The task of monitoring the soil and vegetation cover on the site is to identify and qualitatively assess the restoration of the biological productivity of disturbed lands. For this purpose, conjugated (in place and time) analyzes of the state of soils and vegetation cover are carried out. The groundwater level determines the moisture regime of the soil-ground (vegetation) layer. Each humidity regime corresponds to a certain species composition of plants, and taking into account the species composition and the change in the plant spectrum provides reliable material on the hydrogeological regime of one or another observation site. It is also necessary to control the geomechanical transfer (runoff) of elements and compounds of deep rocks brought to the surface during coal mining (during their physical and chemical weathering). In addition to hydrological methods for monitoring geochemical runoff, it is necessary to establish control over the content of these elements (mainly heavy metals) in the vegetation and soil cover. In soil samples, it is necessary to determine the following indicators: mechanical composition; hygroscopic humidity; pH (water and salt); humus; mobile P2O5, KrO; ammonium, nitrate, total nitrogen, exchangeable Ca and Mg, mobile H and A1; hydrological acidity. In some cases, it is necessary to carry out an analysis for soil contamination with heavy metals (according to the 8 most characteristic elements).
The methodological basis for monitoring vegetation is an integral assessment of the state of phytocenoses under conditions of technogenic impact. The following indicators are used for this assessment:
2. Index of changes in the state and productivity of plant communities (aW), for which you need to have the following data:
Biometric indicators (species composition, projective coverage (score), layering, vitality, abundance (%), phenological state);
Phytomass of plant communities and occurrence of plants;
Age composition of populations.
These data will be obtained during the geobotanical survey of the territory, including:
Reconnaissance survey.
Mapping with contour characterization.
Establishment of permanent trial plots in places of control points for soil research.
Conducting geobotanical descriptions on test sites, as a result of which biometric indicators will be obtained.
Determination of the phytomass index of plant communities.
To determine the degree and nature of technogenic impact on test plots, plant samples are taken for chemical analysis of the gross content of the main pollutants during the calculation of yield. The list of pollutants and their concentration are determined based on the results of atmospheric monitoring. Based on the results of environmental monitoring, recommendations are given on the use of reclaimed sites in the national economy.
4 . Metoenvironmental monitoring
Each science has a huge number of methods, and they are improved and refined with the development of each of the sciences. In monitoring, during each type of activity (observation, evaluation, control and forecasting), its own methods are applied. To date, only observational methods can be divided into direct and indirect methods (see table below).
Depending on the severity of phenomena, processes and objects, monitoring is divided into background, natural (basic) and impact (impact - impact).
Principles of organization of the monitoring system. Theoretical approaches: to ensure the effectiveness of monitoring, its construction should be based on a number of fundamental principles - principles.
Complexity. Everything in nature is interconnected - any material object, process or phenomenon depends on other objects and various factors, therefore the monitoring of any object should be considered not as an autonomous system, but in conjunction with other objects, processes and phenomena, in order to move from providing an assessment and predictive information of the process of managing this object to the process of managing all objects of the environment, i.e., to optimizing the entire process of nature management.
Consistency. In this aspect, monitoring is considered as a system of various types of activities and activities (observation and control, assessment and forecast) in various areas (scientific, scientific and methodological, methodological and applied, applied, technical and informational), simultaneously coordinated in time and space to achieve common goal - a more complete and prompt provision of the necessary information to all its consumers.
Hierarchy. Any objects, processes and phenomena can develop as a set of objects of a higher rank, including objects of a lower rank. Hierarchy provides for the construction of monitoring in the form of a subordinate system, which ensures the interaction of subsystems and the subordination of the goals of functioning of subsystems of a lower rank to the tasks of subsystems of a higher rank.
Autonomy. Monitoring at any level of subordination is considered as an independent system of activity that solves the problem of managing an object, phenomenon or process at a given level and has its own optimality criterion, i.e. the ability to solve problems of managing an object, process, phenomenon at a given level of subordination.
Dynamism. It is assumed that the monitoring system is not a frozen system, but a process of its constant development, during which the structure and methodological basis of the system, the composition and list of tasks to be solved, the technical means that support monitoring, the methods for generating, updating and using regulatory information are improved.
Optimality. The most important part, which implies maximum environmental and economic efficiency of the creation and operation of the monitoring system.
A full-fledged environmental monitoring system can only be built if it is divided into levels (Space, Solar system and near-Earth space, Planet Earth), blocks and objects (geospheric, biospheric, geoecological, bioecological, natural-economic, sanitary-hygienic and ecological), determining directions (scientific - methodological, methodological - applied, applied, information - technical) scales and principles and other numerous aspects
5 . Soil and environmental monitoring
The monitoring system should accumulate, systematize and analyze information about:
The state of the environment;
Reasons for observed and likely changes in status (i.e. source and impact factors);
Permissibility of changes and loads on the environment as a whole;
Existing reserves of the biosphere;
Thus, the monitoring system includes observations of the state of the elements of the biosphere and observations of the sources and factors of anthropogenic impact.
The monitoring system itself does not include activities to manage the quality of the environment, but is a source of information necessary for making environmentally significant decisions (Chupakhin V.M., 1989)
There are various approaches to the classification of monitoring (according to the nature of the tasks to be solved, the levels of organization, and the natural environments being monitored). The classification given below covers the entire block of environmental monitoring, monitoring the changing abiotic component of the biosphere and the response of ecosystems to these changes. Thus, environmental monitoring includes both geophysical and biological aspects, which determines a wide range of research methods and techniques used in its implementation.
Soil-ecological monitoring should be based on the following basic principles:
Development of methods for monitoring the most vulnerable soil properties, the change of which can cause loss of fertility, deterioration in the quality of plant products, degradation of soil cover;
Constant monitoring of the most important indicators of soil fertility;
Early diagnosis of negative changes in soil properties
Development of methods for monitoring the seasonal dynamics of soil processes in order to predict expected yields and operational regulation of the development of agricultural crops, changes in soil properties under long-term anthropogenic loads;
Conducting monitoring of the state of soils in territories disturbed by anthropogenic interventions (background monitoring).
Special tasks of soil-ecological monitoring performed at different levels (local, regional, global) differ. They are united by a common goal: timely detection of changes in soil properties under various types of their use and non-use.
6 . Featureand soil as an object of monitoring
The specificity of soils as an object of monitoring is determined by their place and functions in the biosphere. The soil cover serves as the final recipient of most technogenic chemicals involved in the biosphere. Possessing a high absorption capacity, the soil is the main accumulator and destroyer of toxicants. Representing a geochemical barrier to the migration of pollutants, the soil cover protects adjacent environments from technogenic impact. However, the possibilities of soil as a buffer system are not unlimited. The accumulation of toxicants and products of their transformation in the soil leads to a change in its chemical, physical and biological state, degradation and, ultimately, destruction. These negative changes may be accompanied by the toxic impact of soils on other components of the ecosystem - biota (primarily, species diversity, productivity and stability of phytocenoses), surface and ground waters, and soil layers of the atmosphere.
The organization of soil monitoring is a more difficult task than the monitoring of water and air environments for the following reasons:
The soil is a complex object of study, as it represents a bio-bone body that lives according to the laws of both living nature and the mineral kingdom;
Soil is a multiphase heterogeneous polydisperse thermodynamic open system, chemical impacts in it occur with the participation of solid phases, soil solution, soil air, plant roots, and living organisms. Physical soil processes (moisture transfer and evaporation) have a constant influence;
Hazardous soil polluting chemical elements Hg, Cd, Pb, As, F, Se are natural constituents of rocks and soils. They enter soils from natural and anthropogenic sources, and monitoring tasks require an assessment of the share of the influence of only the anthropogenic component;
Various chemicals of anthropogenic origin enter the soil almost constantly;
Many methodological issues of soil monitoring have not been resolved. The concept of "background", "background content" has not been finally defined. Often, the current state of the biosphere is assessed by comparing it with the past state using indirect methods: by retrospective extrapolation of modern data, comparison with information in previous publications, determination of the content of pollutants in buried media and museum samples, using chemical isotope analysis. All these methods are not free from shortcomings. To assess local pollution, it seems most effective to compare contaminated soils with uncontaminated similar ones, and in background monitoring to evaluate the change in time of background soils.
environmental monitoring soil pollution
Conclusion
Environmental monitoring (environmental monitoring) is a system of observations and control carried out regularly, according to a specific program, to assess the state of the environment, analyze the processes occurring in it and timely identify trends in its changes.
The objects of monitoring are the environment as a whole and its individual elements, as well as all types of economic activities that pose a potential threat to human health and environmental safety. First of all, the objects of monitoring are: the atmosphere (monitoring of the surface layer of the atmosphere and the upper atmosphere); atmospheric precipitation (monitoring of atmospheric precipitation); surface waters of land, oceans and seas, groundwater (hydrosphere monitoring), cryosphere (monitoring of climate system components).
The purpose of environmental monitoring is to provide the safety management system with timely and reliable information.
The legislative framework for environmental control is regulated by the Law of the Russian Federation "On the Protection of the Environment".
Monitoring levels: global (the whole planet, carried out by international environmental organizations), national (within one state in order to obtain information and ensure national environmental security), regional (for Russia - within a constituent entity of the Federation) and local (within one city or industrial object).
Basic principles of monitoring organization: comprehensiveness, regularity, uniformity.
Monitoring is carried out by a special monitoring network, which includes: the Ministry of Natural Resources and its agencies, the Ministry of Health and its agencies, the Ministry of Agriculture and its agencies, the Ministry of Industry and Energy and its agencies, etc. Based on the monitoring data, a system of natural resource cadastres is created.
Bibliography
1. Grishina L.A., Koptsik G.N., Morgun L.V. "Organization and conduct of soil research for environmental monitoring", 1991;
2. Rodzevich N.N. "Classification of ecological monitoring", 2003;
3. Glazkovskaya M.A., Gerasimov I.P. "Fundamentals of soil science and soil geography", 1989;
4. Israel Yu.A. “Global Surveillance System. Forecast and assessment of the environment. Fundamentals of monitoring”, 1974;
5. Espolov T.I., Mirzalinov R.A., Maramova S.S. "Earth Monitoring and Land Monitoring", 2002;
6. Armand A.D. Gaia experiment. The Problem of the Living Earth. 2001
7. Gerasimov I.P. "Scientific foundations of modern environmental monitoring", 1987.
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Environmental monitoring
Introduction
The environmental monitoring system should accumulate, systematize and analyze information:
on the state of the environment;
about the causes of observed and probable changes in state (i.e. about
sources and factors of influence);
on the admissibility of changes and loads on the environment as a whole;
about the existing reserves of the biosphere.
Thus, the environmental monitoring system includes observations of the state of the elements of the biosphere and observations of the sources and factors of anthropogenic impact.
In accordance with the above definitions and the functions assigned to the system, monitoring includes three main areas of activity:
monitoring the impact factors and the state of the environment;
assessment of the actual state of the environment;
forecast of the state of the environment and assessment
predicted state.
It should be taken into account that the monitoring system itself does not include environmental quality management activities, but is a source of information necessary for making environmentally significant decisions.
The main tasks of environmental monitoring:
monitoring of sources of anthropogenic impact;
observation of anthropogenic impact factors;
observation of the state of the natural environment and what is happening in it
processes under the influence of anthropogenic factors;
assessment of the actual state of the natural environment;
forecast of changes in the state of the natural environment under the influence of factors
anthropogenic impact and assessment of the predicted state
natural environment.
Environmental monitoring of the environment can be developed at the level of an industrial facility, city, region, territory, republic as part of a federation.
The nature and mechanism of generalization of information about the environmental situation as it moves through the hierarchical levels of the environmental monitoring system is determined using the concept of an information portrait of the environmental situation. The latter is a set of graphically presented spatially distributed data characterizing the ecological situation in a certain area, together with the map base of the area.
When developing an environmental monitoring project, the following information is required:
Sources of pollutants entering the environment - emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere by industrial, energy, transport and others, leading to the release of hazardous substances into the atmosphere and the spill of liquid pollutants and hazardous substances, etc.;
Transfers of pollutants - processes of atmospheric transfer; processes of transfer and migration in the aquatic environment;
Processes of landscape-geochemical redistribution of pollutants - migration of pollutants along the soil profile to the level of groundwater; migration of pollutants along the landscape-geochemical conjugation, taking into account geochemical barriers and
biochemical cycles; biochemical circulation, etc.;
Data on the state of anthropogenic sources of pollution - the power of the source of pollution and its location, hydrodynamic conditions for the entry of pollution into the environment.
It should be taken into account that the monitoring system itself does not include environmental quality management activities, but is a source of information necessary for making environmentally significant decisions. The term control, which is often used in the Russian-language literature to describe the analytical determination of certain parameters (for example, control of the composition of atmospheric air, control of water quality in reservoirs), should be used only in relation to activities involving the adoption of active regulatory measures.
"Environmental control" is the activity of state bodies, enterprises and citizens to comply with environmental norms and rules. There are state, industrial and public environmental control.
The legislative framework for environmental control is regulated by the Law of the Russian Federation "On Environmental Protection";
1. Environmental control sets its tasks: monitoring
the state of the environment and its change under the influence of economic and
other activities; verification of the implementation of plans and measures for the protection
nature, rational use of natural resources, health improvement
environment, compliance
environmental legislation and environmental quality standards.
2. The environmental control system consists of a public service
monitoring of the state of the environment, state,
production, public control. Thus, in
environmental legislation state monitoring service
defined in fact as part of the overall system of environmental control.
Classification of environmental monitoring
There are various approaches to the classification of monitoring (according to the nature of the tasks to be solved, the levels of organization, and the natural environments being monitored). The classification shown in Figure 2 covers the entire block of environmental monitoring, monitoring the changing abiotic component of the biosphere and the response of ecosystems to these changes. Thus, environmental monitoring includes both geophysical and biological aspects, which determines a wide range of research methods and techniques used in its implementation.
As already noted, the implementation of environmental monitoring in the Russian Federation is the responsibility of various government services. This leads to some uncertainty (at least for the public) regarding the distribution of responsibilities of civil services and the availability of information about the sources of impact, the state of the environment and natural resources. The situation is aggravated by periodic restructuring of ministries and departments, their mergers and divisions.
At the regional level, environmental monitoring and/or control is usually charged with:
Committee for Ecology (monitoring and control of emissions and discharges
operating enterprises).
Committee for Hydrometeorology and Monitoring (impact, regional and partly
background monitoring).
Sanitary and Epidemiological Service of the Ministry of Health (condition of workers, residential and
recreational areas, the quality of drinking water and food).
Ministry of Natural Resources (primarily geological and
hydrogeological observations).
Enterprises that carry out emissions and discharges into the environment
(monitoring and control of own emissions and discharges).
Various departmental structures (subdivisions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Ministry of Emergency Situations,
Ministry of Fuel and Energy, water and sewer enterprises, etc.)
In order to effectively use the information already received by public services, it is important to know exactly the functions of each of them in the field of environmental monitoring (Taol_ 2).
Powerful professional forces are involved in the system of official environmental monitoring. Is there still a need for public environmental monitoring? Is there a place for it in the general monitoring system that exists in the Russian Federation?
In order to answer these questions, let's consider the levels of environmental monitoring adopted in Russia (Fig. 4).
Ideally, an impact monitoring system should accumulate and analyze detailed information about specific sources of pollution and their impact on the environment. But in the system that has developed in the Russian Federation, information about the activities of enterprises and the state of the environment in the zone of their influence is mostly averaged or based on the statements of the enterprises themselves. Most of the available materials reflect the nature of the dispersion of pollutants in air and water, established using model calculations, and the results of measurements (quarterly - for water, annual or less frequent - for air). The state of the environment is sufficiently fully described only in large cities and industrial zones.
In the field of regional monitoring, observations are carried out mainly by Roshydromet, which has an extensive network, as well as by some departments (agrochemical service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Sewerage Service, etc.) And, finally, there is a network of background monitoring carried out within the framework of the MAB (Man and Biosphere) program. Practically not covered by the observation network are small towns and numerous settlements, the vast majority of diffuse sources of pollution. Monitoring of the state of the aquatic environment, organized primarily by Roshydromet and, to some extent, by sanitary and epidemiological (SES) and communal (Vodokanal) services, does not cover the vast majority of small rivers. At the same time, it is known that< загрязнение больших рек в значительной части обусловлено вкладом разветвленной сети их притоков и хозяйственной деятельностью в водосборе. В условиях сокращения общего числ; постов наблюдений очевидно, что государство в настоящее время не располагает ресурсами для организации сколько-нибудь эффективной системы мониторинга состояния малых рек.
Thus, white spots are clearly marked on the ecological map, where systematically! observations are not made. Moreover, within the framework of the state environmental monitoring network, there are no prerequisites for their organization in these places. It is these blind spots that can (and often should) become objects of public environmental monitoring. The practical orientation of monitoring, concentration of efforts on local problems, combined with a well-thought-out scheme and correct interpretation of the data obtained, make it possible to effectively use the resources available to the public. In addition, these features of public monitoring create serious prerequisites for organizing a constructive dialogue aimed at consolidating the efforts of all participants. Global environmental monitoring system. In 1975 The Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) was organized under the auspices of the UN, but it began to operate effectively only recently. This system consists of 5 interrelated subsystems: the study of climate change, long-range transport of pollutants, hygienic aspects of the environment, the study of the oceans and land resources. There are 22 networks of active stations of the global monitoring system, as well as international and national monitoring systems. One of the main ideas of monitoring is reaching a fundamentally new level of competence when making decisions on a local, regional and global scale.
The concept of public environmental expertise arose in the late 80s and quickly became widespread. The original interpretation of this term was very broad. An independent environmental review meant a variety of ways to obtain and analyze information (environmental monitoring, environmental impact assessment, independent research, etc.). Currently, the concept of public environmental expertise is defined by law. "Ecological expertise" - establishing the compliance of the planned economic and other activities with environmental requirements and the admissibility of the implementation of the object of expertise in order to prevent possible adverse effects of this activity on the environment and related social, economic and other consequences of the implementation of the object of environmental expertise.
Ecological expertise can be state and public. Public environmental expertise is carried out at the initiative of citizens and public organizations (associations), as well as at the initiative of local governments by public organizations (associations).
The objects of the state ecological expertise are:
draft master plans for the development of territories,
all types of urban planning documentation (for example, master plan, building project),
draft schemes for the development of sectors of the national economy,
projects of interstate investment programs, projects of integrated schemes for nature protection, schemes for the protection and use of natural resources (including projects for land use and forest management, materials justifying the transfer of forest lands to non-forest lands),
draft international treaties,
substantiation materials for licenses to carry out activities that can have an impact on the environment,
feasibility studies and projects for construction, reconstruction, expansion, technical re-equipment, conservation and liquidation of organizations and other objects of economic activity, regardless of their estimated cost, departmental affiliation and ownership,
draft technical documentation for new equipment, technology, materials, substances, certified goods and services.
Public ecological expertise may be carried out in relation to the same objects as the state ecological expertise, with the exception of objects, information about which constitutes a state, commercial and (or) other secret protected by law.
The purpose of the environmental review is to prevent possible adverse effects of the proposed activity on the environment and related socio-economic and other consequences.
According to the Law, ecological expertise is based on the principle of presumption of potential environmental hazard of any planned economic or other activity. This means that the responsibility of the customer (the owner of the proposed activity) is to predict the impact of the proposed activity on the environment and justify the admissibility of this impact. The customer is also obliged to provide for the necessary measures to protect the environment, and it is on him that the burden of proving the environmental safety of the proposed activity lies. Foreign experience testifies to the high economic efficiency of environmental expertise. The US Environmental Protection Agency performed a selective analysis of environmental impact reports. In half of the cases studied, there was a decrease in the total cost of projects due to the implementation of constructive environmental measures. According to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a possible increase in the cost of projects associated with an environmental impact assessment and subsequent consideration of environmental restrictions in working projects pays off in an average of 5-7 years. According to Western experts, the inclusion of environmental factors in the decision-making process even at the design stage turns out to be 3-4 times cheaper than the subsequent one before the installation of treatment equipment. Today, the network of observations of sources of influence and the state of the biosphere already covers the entire globe. The Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) was created by the joint efforts of the world community (the main provisions and goals of the program were formulated in 1974 at the First Intergovernmental Monitoring Meeting).
The priority task was to organize monitoring of environmental pollution and the impact factors causing it.
The monitoring system is implemented at several levels, which correspond to specially developed programs:
impact (study of strong impacts on a local scale in - and);
regional (manifestation of the problems of migration and transformation of pollutants, the combined impact of various factors characteristic of the economy of the region - R);
background (on the basis of biosphere reserves, where any economic activity is excluded - F).
The program of impact monitoring can be directed, for example, to the study of discharges or emissions from a particular enterprise. The subject of regional monitoring, as follows from its very name, is the state of the environment within a particular region. Finally, background monitoring, carried out within the framework of the international program Man and the Biosphere, aims to fix the background state of the environment, which is necessary for further assessments of the levels of anthropogenic impact.
Observation programs are formed according to the principle of choosing pollutants and their corresponding characteristics. The determination of these pollutions in the organization of monitoring systems depends on the purpose and objectives of specific programs: for example, on a territorial scale, the priority of state monitoring systems is given to cities, drinking water sources and fish spawning grounds; with regard to the observation environments, the atmospheric air and water of fresh water bodies deserve priority attention. The priority of ingredients is determined taking into account criteria that reflect the toxic properties of pollutants, the volumes of their entry into the environment, the characteristics of their transformation, the frequency and magnitude of exposure to humans and biota, the possibility of organizing measurements, and other factors.
State environmental monitoring
The GEMS is based on national monitoring systems that operate in various states in accordance with both international requirements and specific approaches that have developed historically or are determined by the nature of the most acute environmental problems. International requirements to be met by national GEMS member systems include uniform principles for developing programs (taking into account priority impact factors), obligatory observations of objects of global significance, and transmission of information to the GEMS Center. On the territory of the USSR in the 70s, on the basis of hydrometeorological service stations, the All-State Service for Observation and Control of the State of the Environment (OGSNK) was organized, built on a hierarchical principle.
Rice. 3. Tray of information in the hierarchical system of OGCOS
In a processed and systematized form, the information obtained is presented in cadastral publications, such as Annual data on the composition and quality of surface waters on land (according to hydrochemical and hydrobiological indicators), Yearbook of the state of the atmosphere in cities and industrial centers, etc. Until the end of the 80s, all cadastral publications were marked for official use, then for 3-5 years they were open and available in central libraries. To date, massive collections such as the Annual Data ... are practically not received by libraries. Some materials can be obtained (purchased) from the regional divisions of Roshydromet.
In addition to OGSNK, which is part of the system of Roshydromet (Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring), environmental monitoring is carried out by a number of services, ministries and departments.
Unified state system of environmental monitoring
In order to radically increase the efficiency of work to preserve and improve the state of the environment, ensure human environmental safety in the Russian Federation "On the Creation of the Unified State System of Environmental Monitoring" (EGSEM).
EGSEM solves the following tasks:
development of programs for monitoring the state of the environment (OS) on the territory of Russia, in its individual regions and districts;
organization of observations and measurements of indicators of environmental monitoring objects;
ensuring the reliability and comparability of observational data both in individual regions and districts, and throughout Russia;
collection and processing of observational data;
organizing the storage of observational data, maintaining special data banks characterizing the ecological situation on the territory of Russia and in its individual regions;
harmonization of banks and databases of environmental information with international environmental information systems;
assessment and forecast of the state of environmental protection objects and anthropogenic impacts on them, natural resources, responses of ecosystems and public health to changes in the state of environmental protection systems;
organization and implementation of operational control and precision changes in radioactive and chemical contamination as a result of accidents and catastrophes, as well as forecasting the environmental situation and assessing the damage caused to the OPS;
ensuring the availability of integrated environmental information to a wide range of consumers, including the public, social movements and organizations;
information support of the management bodies of the state of the environmental protection system, natural resources and environmental safety;
development and implementation of a unified scientific and technical policy in the field of environmental monitoring;
creation and improvement of organized, legal, regulatory, methodological, methodological, informational, software-mathematical, hardware and technical support for the functioning of the USSEM.
EGSEM, in turn, includes the following main components:
monitoring of sources of anthropogenic impact on the environment;
monitoring of pollution of the abiotic component of the natural environment;
monitoring of the biotic component of the natural environment;
socio-hygienic monitoring;
ensuring the creation and functioning of environmental information systems.
At the same time, the distribution of functions between the central executive federal authorities is carried out as follows.
State Committee for Ecology: coordination of the activities of ministries and departments, enterprises and organizations in the field of environmental protection monitoring; organization of monitoring of sources of anthropogenic impact on the environment and zones of their direct impact; organization of monitoring of flora and fauna, monitoring of terrestrial fauna and flora (except for forests); ensuring the creation and functioning of environmental information systems; maintenance with interested ministries and departments of data banks on the natural environment, natural resources and their use. Roshydromet: organization of monitoring of the state of the atmosphere, surface waters of land, the marine environment, soils, near-Earth space, including integrated background and space monitoring of the state of the environment; coordination of development and functioning of departmental background monitoring subsystems
environmental pollution; maintenance of the state fund of data on environmental pollution.
Roskomzem: land monitoring.
Ministry of Natural Resources: subsoil monitoring, including monitoring of groundwater and hazardous geological processes; monitoring of the aquatic environment of water management systems and structures in places of catchment and wastewater discharge. Roskomrybolovstvo: monitoring of fish, other animals and plants.
Rosleskhoz: forest monitoring.
Roskartografiya: implementation of topographic, geodetic and cartographic support of the USSEM, including the creation of digital, electronic maps and geographic information systems. Gosgortekhnadzor of Russia: coordination of the development and operation of subsystems for monitoring the geological environment related to the use of subsoil resources at enterprises in the extractive industries; monitoring of industrial safety (with the exception of objects of the Ministry of Defense of Russia and the Ministry of Atomic Energy of Russia). Goskomepidnadzor of Russia: monitoring the impact of environmental factors on the health of the population. Ministry of Defense of Russia; monitoring of OPS and sources of influence on it at military facilities; providing UGSEM with means and systems of dual-use military equipment. Goskomsever of Russia: participation in the development and operation of the USSEM in the regions of the Arctic and the Far North. The technology of unified environmental monitoring (SEM) covers the development and use of means, systems and methods of observation, evaluation and development of recommendations and control actions in the natural and technogenic sphere, forecasts of its evolution, energy, environmental and technological characteristics of the production sector, biomedical and sanitary hygienic conditions of human and biota existence. The complexity of environmental problems, their multidimensionality, the closest connection with key sectors of the economy, defense, and ensuring the protection of the health and well-being of the population require a unified systematic approach to solving the problem. Monitoring as a whole is created to prevent various environmental problems, as well as the destruction of ecosystems.
Extermination of species and destruction of ecosystems
Human impact on the biosphere has led to the fact that many species of animals and plants have either disappeared completely or become rare. For mammals and birds, which are easier to count than invertebrates, completely accurate data can be given. For the period from 1600 to the present, 162 species and subspecies of birds have been exterminated by man, and 381 species are threatened with the same fate; among mammals, at least a hundred species have disappeared and 255 are on the way to extinction. The chronology of these sad events is not difficult to trace. In 1627, the last tour, the ancestor of our cattle, died in Poland. In the Middle Ages, this animal could still be found in France. In 1671, the dodo disappeared from the island of Mauritius. In 1870-1880. Boers destroyed two species of South African zebras - Burchell's zebra and quagga. In 1914, the last representative of the passenger pigeon died in the Cincinnati Zoo (USA). A long list of endangered animals could be given. The American bison and the European bison miraculously survived; the Asiatic lion has survived only in one of the forests of India, where only 150 individuals remain; in France every day there are fewer bears and birds of prey.
Extinction of species today
Extinction is a natural process. However, since the advent of agriculture about 10,000 years ago, the rate of species extinction has increased dramatically as humans spread across the globe. According to rough estimates, between 8000 BC. the average rate of extinction of mammals and birds has increased 1,000 times. If we include here the rate of extinction of plant and insect species, then the rate of extinction in 1975 was several hundred species per year. If we take a lower limit of 500,000 extinct species, then by 2010, as a result of anthropogenic activities, on average, 20,000 species per year will disappear, i.e. a total of 1 species every 30 minutes - a 200-fold increase in the extinction rate in just 25 years. Even if the average extinction rate at the end of the 20th century is assumed to be 1,000 per year, the total loss will not be comparable to the great mass extinctions of the past. The most publicized is the disappearance of animals. But the extinction of plants from an ecological point of view is more important, since most animal species directly or indirectly depend on plant food. More than 10% of the world's plant species are estimated to be endangered today. By 2010, 16 to 25% of all plant species will disappear.
Principles of a comprehensive characterization of the state of pollution of the natural environment
A comprehensive characterization of the state of pollution comes from the concept of a comprehensive analysis of the environment. The main and obligatory condition of this concept is the consideration of all the main aspects of interactions and relationships in the natural environment and taking into account all aspects of the pollution of natural objects, as well as the behavior of pollutants (pollutants) and the manifestation of their impact.
The program of complex research of pollution of terrestrial ecosystems
Under the conditions of the increasing load of industrial civilization, environmental pollution is turning into a global factor that determines the development of the natural environment and human health. The prospects for such a development of society are disastrous for the existence of a developed civilization. The proposed program makes it possible to realistically assess the complex of problems associated with the organization of environmental monitoring and plan work to study the pollution of a particular area. The program also set the task of showing that environmental pollution is a real and ubiquitous environmental factor.
Pollution of the environment is an objective reality and one cannot be afraid of it. (An example is radiophobia, i.e. a mental illness associated with a constant fear of radioactive contamination). We must learn to live in the changed environment in a way that reduces the impact of pollution on our health and the health of our neighbors. The formation of an environmental outlook is the main way to fight for the preservation and improvement of the quality of the environment. Usually, in school, extracurricular and university programs of applied ecology, the problems of pollution of water bodies and the oceans are widely discussed. Particular attention is paid to the assessment of the state of reservoirs and local watercourses in terms of environmental and hydrochemical indicators. Numerous programs exist and operate to assess the ecological state of water bodies. This question is well worked out in methodological and scientific terms.
Terrestrial ecosystems, of which man is also an integral component, are less studied and less often used as model objects in training courses. This is due to the much more complex organization of terrestrial biota. When we consider terrestrial ecosystems, natural or heavily modified by humans, the number of internal and external relationships increases dramatically, the source of pollution or other impact becomes more diffuse, and its impact is more difficult to identify, compared to aquatic ecosystems. The boundaries of ecosystems and territories subject to anthropogenic impact are also blurred. However, it is the state of terrestrial ecosystems, i.e. land area, most noticeably and significantly affects the quality of our lives. The purity of the air we breathe, the food and drinking water we consume, is ultimately linked to the state of pollution of terrestrial ecosystems. Since the mid-1950s, environmental pollution has taken on a global scale - anywhere on the planet you can now find toxic products of our civilization: heavy metals, pesticides and other toxic organic and inorganic compounds. It took 20 years for scientists and governments around the world to realize the need to create a service to control global environmental pollution.
Under the auspices of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), a decision was made to create a Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) with a focal point in Nairobi (Kenya). At the first intergovernmental meeting, held in 1974 in Nairobi, the main approaches to the creation of integrated background monitoring were adopted. Russia is one of the first countries in the world, on the territory of which, by the mid-80s, a national system of integrated background monitoring of the State Committee for Hydrometeorology was created. The system includes a network of integrated background monitoring stations (ICFM) located in biosphere reserves, on the territory of which systematic monitoring of environmental pollution and the state of flora and fauna is carried out. Now in Russia there are 7 background monitoring stations of the Federal Service of Russia "for hydrometeorology and environmental monitoring, located in biosphere reserves: Prioksko-Terrasny, Central Forest, Voronezh, Astrakhan, Kavkazsky, Barguzinsky and Sikhote-Alinsky.
The SCFM conducts observations of air pollution, precipitation, surface water, soil, vegetation and animals. These observations make it possible to estimate the change in the background pollution of the environment, i.e. pollution caused not by any one or a group of sources, but by the general pollution of a vast territory, caused by the total impact of close (local) and remote sources of pollutants, as well as the general pollution of the planet. On the basis of these data, it is possible to compile a comprehensive characterization of the pollution of the territory.
There is no need for long-term monitoring in order to make a preliminary comprehensive characterization of the pollution of the territory. It is important that when conducting a study, the basic requirements and principles on which the concept of research complexity is built are taken into account.
Principles of complex characteristics of the state of pollution of the natural environment. A comprehensive characterization of the state of pollution comes from the concept of a comprehensive analysis of the environment. The main and obligatory condition of this concept is consideration of all
the main aspects of interactions and relationships in the natural environment and taking into account all aspects of pollution of natural objects, as well as the behavior of pollutants (pollutants) and the manifestation of their impact. With a comprehensive characterization of pollution, pollutants are monitored in all
environments, while great importance is attached to the study of the accumulation (accumulation) of one or another pollutant in natural objects or certain landscapes, its transition (translocation) from one natural environment to another and the changes (effects) caused by it. The ongoing comprehensive studies of pollution are designed to determine the source of pollution, assess its power and impact time, and find ways to improve the environment. An approach that takes into account the listed requirements is considered to be complex.
In this regard, there are 4 main principles of complexity:
1. Integrity (observations of total indicators).
2. Multi-environment (observations in the main natural environments).
3. Consistency (recreation of biochemical cycles of pollutants).
4. Multicomponent nature (analysis of various types of pollutants).
When organizing long-term monitoring, special attention is paid to the fifth principle - the unification of analysis methods and the control and assurance of data quality. In the following, we describe each of these principles in detail.
It should be noted that when conducting a comprehensive study, not only purely ecological knowledge and methods are used, but also knowledge and methods of geography, geophysics, analytical chemistry, programming, etc.
Integrity
A feature of the integral approach is the use of signs of reactions of various natural objects and bioindicators to determine the presence of pollution.
Getting into an unfamiliar area, an observant person, and especially a naturalist, can determine the state of pollution in a given area by indirect features. An unnatural smell, a smoky horizon, gray February snow, an iridescent film on the surface of a reservoir, and many other features will prompt the observer to increased industrial pollution of the area. In the above example, indicators of the state of pollution of the area are non-living (abiotic) objects - surface air, the surface of the snow cover and the reservoir. The most widely used as an abiotic indicator of industrial pollution of the territory is the snow cover and the method of its study - snow survey (one of the manuals of this series will be devoted to this method).
When using an integral approach, special attention is paid to the state of living organisms.
So, it is known that pine is the most vulnerable to air pollution in our zone. With a high level of air pollution with sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and other toxic compounds, a general lightening of the color of the needles, dry tops, and yellowing of the edges of the needles are observed. Juniper dries up in the undergrowth. A few hours after acid rain, the edges of the birch leaves turn yellow, the leaves are covered with a gray-yellow coating or specks. With an abundance of nitrogen oxides in the air, algae rapidly develop on tree trunks, while epiphytic fruticose lichens disappear, etc. The presence of broad-toed crayfish in the reservoir indicates the high purity of the water.
The method of using living organisms as indicators signaling the state of the natural environment is called bioindication, and the living organism itself, the state of which is monitored, is called a bioindicator. In the above examples, living objects served as bioindicators - birch, pine, juniper, epiphytic lichens, broad-toed crayfish.
The use of bioindicators is based on the reaction of any biological organism to a negative impact. At the same time, the set of reactions to the multiple, integral, negative impact of the environment, as a rule, is very limited. The organism either dies, or leaves (if it can) the given area, or ekes out a miserable existence, which can be determined visually or using various tests and a series of special observations (several manuals of this series are devoted to bioindication techniques).
The selection and use of bioindicators is entirely in line with environmental science, and bioindication is an intensively developing method for studying the results of impacts. For example, various plants are widely used in air quality observations. In the forest, in each tier, certain types of plants can be distinguished, reacting in their own way to the state of environmental pollution.
Thus, the integral approach is to use natural objects as indicators of environmental pollution.
At the same time, it is often completely unclear which particular substance was the cause of a particular effect, and it is impossible to draw conclusions about a direct relationship between the indicator species and the pollutant. The peculiarity of the integral approach lies precisely in the fact that this or that indicator object only signals to us that something is wrong in a given area. The use of bioindicators to characterize the state of pollution makes it possible to effectively (i.e. quickly and cheaply) determine the presence of a general, integral impact of pollution on the environment and make only preliminary ideas about the chemical nature of pollution. Unfortunately, it is impossible to accurately determine the chemical composition of pollutants using bioindication methods. In order to specifically determine which substance or group of substances has the most detrimental effect, it is necessary to use other research methods. Precise determination of the type of pollutant, its source, and the extent of pollution and spread is impossible without analytical long-term studies in all natural environments.
Multimedia
When conducting monitoring studies, it is important to cover all the main natural environments: the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere (mainly the soil cover - pedosphere), as well as biota. To analyze the migrations of pollutants, determine the places of their localization and accumulation, and determine the limiting environment, it is necessary to carry out measurements in objects of the main natural environments.
It is especially important to determine the limiting environment, that is, the environment, the pollution of which determines the pollution of all other environments and natural objects. It is also very important to determine the ways of migration of pollutants and the possibilities and coefficients of transition (translocation) of pollutants from one environment (or object) to another. This is the science of geophysics.
The main media (objects) that should be covered when conducting a comprehensive study: air, soil (as part of the lithosphere), surface water and biota. The contamination of each of these media is characterized by the results of analyzes of pollutants in various objects within these media, the choice of which is important for the results and conclusions obtained. To obtain information about the contamination of a particular object, it is required to take a sample for analysis. The main principles to be followed in site selection and sampling are outlined below.
Atmosphere.
The main object by which atmospheric pollution is characterized is the surface layer of air. Air samples for analysis are taken at a level of 1.5 - 2 m from the ground. Air sampling usually consists of pumping it through filters, a sorbent (binder) or measuring device. Special requirements apply to the selection site. Firstly, the site must be open and more than 100 m away from the forest. Measurements under the forest canopy give, as a rule, an underestimated result and characterize the density of crowns more than the level of air pollution. Indirectly, air quality can be judged by the pollution of atmospheric precipitation (mainly snow and rain). Precipitation is taken using large funnels, special sediment collectors or simply basins, only at the moment of precipitation and at the point of air sampling. Sometimes dry deposition samples are used to characterize air pollution, i.e. solid dust particles constantly deposited on the underlying surface. Methodically, this is a rather complicated task, which, however, is quite simply solved by the method of snow survey.
surface waters.
The main objects of study are small (local) rivers and lakes.
When sampling, special attention should be paid to the fact that water sampling should be carried out 15 - 30 cm below the water table. This is due to the fact that the surface film is a boundary medium between air and water, and the concentrations of most pollutants in it are 10–100 or more times higher than in the water column itself. The pollution of stagnant water bodies can be judged by bottom sediments. When sampling, it is important to consider the season in which the sampling takes place. There are 4 main seasonal periods: winter and summer low water (minimum level) and spring and autumn floods (maximum level). In low water, water levels in reservoirs are minimal, because. there is no water inflow with precipitation, or the amount of precipitation is less than evaporation. During these periods, the role of groundwater and groundwater in nutrition is the greatest. During periods of floods, the water level in reservoirs and streams rises, especially in spring, during the flood period. During these periods, rain food and food due to snowmelt make up the maximum share. In this case, the surface washout of soil particles and pollutants with them into rivers and lakes occurs. For small rivers and streams, rain floods are also distinguished, characterized by an increase in the water level for several hours or days after the rain, which plays a significant role in the washout of pollutants from the surrounding areas. The state of the water level in reservoirs is important to take into account due to the fact that by the period in which the concentration of pollutants in the water is higher, one can judge its source. If the concentration in the low water is higher than in the flood or practically does not change, then pollutants enter the watercourse with ground and groundwater, if vice versa - with precipitation from the atmosphere and washout from the underlying surface.
Lithosphere (pedosphere).
The main object characterizing the contamination of the underlying surface is the soil, especially its upper 5 centimeters. In this regard, in most studies, only this upper layer is selected to characterize soil contamination.
When taking soil samples, it is important to identify autochthonous, that is, indigenous, ecosystems formed on elevated areas of the indigenous coast (plakor). Soil contamination in these areas is indicative of a typical state of contamination. As a rule, these are watershed primary forests and raised bogs. It is also necessary to carry out studies of soils in accumulative landscapes located in depressions and absorbing pollution from vast areas.
Biota.
The concept of biota includes objects of flora and fauna living in the study area.
On the example of these objects, the content of pollutants that tend to accumulate in plants and animals, that is, substances whose content in biological objects is higher than in abiotic media, is controlled. This phenomenon is called bioaccumulation.
The root cause of bioaccumulation is that the entry of a pollutant into a living object is much easier than its removal or decomposition. For example, the radioactive metal strontium (Sr 90) accumulates in the bone tissue of animals, since its properties are very close to calcium, which is the basis of the mineral component of bones. The body confuses these compounds and includes strontium in the bones. Another example is organochlorine pesticides such as DDT. These substances are highly soluble in fats and poorly soluble in water (this property is called lipophilicity in chemistry). As a result, substances from the intestine do not enter the blood, but into the lymph. With the blood, toxic substances would be delivered to the liver and kidneys - the organs responsible for the decomposition and elimination of toxic substances from the body. Once in the lymph, these substances are distributed throughout the body and dissolved in fats. Thus, a store of toxic substances in fats is created. Animals and plants also accumulate heavy metals, radionuclides, toxic organic compounds (pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls). These compounds are present in animals and plants in ultra-low concentrations (less than 10 mg/kg), which require the use of sophisticated analytical equipment.
Consistency
In part, we have already talked about the need to take into account the relationship between media and objects when sampling.
An ideal research system should be able to trace the path of the pollutant from the source to the sink, and from the exit point to the target (object of influence). The monitoring system should work in such a way that, by studying the interactions between environments, it can describe the paths of the biochemical circulation of substances. For this, a systematic approach is used, which allows creating transfer models.
On land, the atmosphere is the main pathway for the propagation and transport of pollutants. The intake of substances is associated with their concentration in the air and precipitation from the atmosphere with precipitation and dry fallout. The removal occurs by rivers, streams and surface washout during the period of snowmelt and rain. There may not be any removal outside the territory, and substances accumulate in the so-called accumulative landscapes - lowland swamps, depressions, ravines and lakes. To link all the examined components into a single system, it is necessary to collect the parameters of the main abiotic and biotic indicators of objects and ecosystems as a whole.
The main abiotic indicators are:
Climatic:
1) Air temperature and pressure - to bring the volume of pumped air during sampling to normal conditions, as well as to simulate the process of pollutant transfer.
2) Wind speed and direction - ways of pollutant transfer from the source, identification of the source, modeling of the transfer process, monitoring of the release from the enterprise (source).
3) Amount of precipitation - calculation of precipitation of pollutants from the atmosphere. Hydrological: water level, flow rate and runoff volume -
necessary to determine the time of sampling and calculate the volume of pollutant removal and determine the source (path of entry).
Soil: soil volumetric weight, type and genetic horizons, mechanical composition. All this must be investigated to determine the density of pollution and the biological capacity of soils. It is also important to take into account the aeration, drainage and watering of the soil. These indicators characterize the intensity of decontamination of pollutants. For example, under anaerobic conditions (reducing reactions predominate in the soil without access to oxygen) and under conditions of increased moisture (signified by traces of gleying on the soil profile), most pesticides and other complex hydrocarbons (for example, polychlorinated biphenyls) are rather quickly decomposed or consumed by anaerobic microorganisms. Biotic parameters: key ecosystem parameters are collected to detect the effect of pollution and to calculate biogeochemical cycles and translocations of pollutants in ecosystems. The main parameters are: productivity, litter, total biomass and phytomass. An important characteristic that is used in organizing long-term monitoring of the state of natural ecosystems is the rate of litter decomposition. Special tests have been developed to control the rate of decomposition. With a high level of pollution, the rate of decomposition of the litter decreases.
Multicomponent
Modern industry and agriculture use a huge amount of toxic compounds and elements and, accordingly, are powerful sources of environmental pollution. Many of them are xenobiotics, i.e. synthetic substances that are not characteristic of living nature. The reason for the deterioration of the ecological situation and the oppression of biota can be any of the substances. Until recently, control over the entire spectrum of pollutants was practically impossible. Trends in the development of analytical methods and instruments have led to the fact that now it is quite possible to obtain information about ultra-low concentrations of almost all substances. However, these devices are too expensive for widespread implementation in practice, and there is no need for this. It is enough to single out the most dangerous or most informative substances, and carry out thorough control over them. In this case, of course, one has to put up with the instrumental methods of analysis available.
The GEMS program identifies the main, most dangerous (priority) pollutants and the most important media for their control (Table 1). The higher the priority class, the higher their danger to the biosphere and the more thorough the control.
Data on the main priority pollutants are necessary and sufficient for a comprehensive characterization of the pollution of the territory. Many of them are indicative of a whole class of pollutants. Conventionally, pollutants can be divided into 3 types according to their behavior in the natural environment:
1. Substances that are not prone to accumulation in natural environments and to the transition from one environment to another (translocation). As a rule, these are gaseous compounds.
The priority medium for observations is air.
2. Substances partially prone to accumulation, mainly in abiotic environments, as well as migrating in various environments. These substances include nitrates and other fertilizers, some pesticides, petroleum products, etc.
The priority environment is natural waters, soil.
3. Substances that accumulate in animate and inanimate nature and are included in the biogeochemical cycles of ecosystems. This group includes the most dangerous substances for the organism of animals and humans - pesticides, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals.
The priority environment is soils and biota.
The type (or level) of the surveillance program indicates the extent of the pollutant's spread.
The impact (local) level indicates that the pollutant is dangerous only close to the source (large city, factory, etc.). At a considerable distance, pollution levels are not dangerous.
The regional level means that dangerous levels of pollution can be created in certain regions over a sufficiently large area.
At the baseline or global level, pollution has assumed planetary proportions.
Table 1. Classification of priority pollutants
Note: I - impact, R - regional, B - basic (global).
Where to start with a comprehensive characterization of pollution?
Starting to create a system of local monitoring of environmental pollution, one should:
1) Clearly define the study area.
2) After that, it is necessary to determine the near and remote sources of pollution. This work is called - inventory of sources of pollution. To carry it out, it is necessary to determine the existing and other possible sources of pollution and substances that can be emitted by these sources on the territory of your residence and (or) research, as well as to estimate the volume of emissions of emitted pollutants (power of sources). Sources, at the same time, are divided into point and area sources. Point, or organized, sources are localized on the ground, i.e. have a defined ejection point, for example, in the form of a pipe. These can be industrial enterprises, houses with stove heating, boiler rooms, landfills.
Areal, or unorganized, sources do not have a specific pipe - pollutants are emitted over a specific area. These are highways and railways, agricultural land where fertilizers and pesticides are used, forest land that can be treated with insecticides and defoliants.
There are local sources, i.e. located in the study area or within 10-20 km from it and regional, located 50-200 km away. At the same time, you should try to evaluate the sources and identify the most powerful ones that determine the level of pollution in your area.
For example, the zone of influence of a point regional source, the Monchegorsk Severonikel mining plant, extends over a territory of more than 100 km. In the area up to 20 km from the plant, all vegetation was burned by acid precipitation, with the exception of the most resistant mosses, and the contamination of soils and, accordingly, mushrooms and berries with heavy metals spreads within a radius of 50 km from the plant.
In such cases, smaller sources of heavy metals and sulfur compounds have little or no effect on the overall pollution pattern, since completely suppressed by a more powerful source. The measurement results will thus be determined by the meteorological factors of pollutant transfer and the intensity of the plant's emissions.
It is also important to pay attention to the ways in which pollutants spread. Substances from a source to the environment may be emitted to the atmosphere or discharged to a watercourse or sewer. Source inventory is a painstaking and difficult job. However, a successful inventory of sources promises half the success of your undertaking. You can get the necessary information about the sources and power of emissions from local environmental committees. Each industrial facility that emits products of its activities into the environment has an environmental passport and is obliged to conduct an inventory of pollution sources on its territory. 3) At the third stage, using the knowledge and techniques of bioindication, one should try to detect effects. 4) The fourth stage includes a comprehensive survey of all environments based on your existing measuring instruments. Here, at first, simple tablet studies, such as snow measurements and analysis of snow samples for the content and composition of particulate matter and the concentration of hydrogen ions (pH), will be of great benefit. After the examination, you can already judge the degree of industrial and agricultural pollution in your area and determine the most significant sources of pollution.
5) After that, you can start under-flare observations and organize monitoring of the activities of a particular enterprise that makes the maximum contribution to the pollution of your area. The essence of under-flare observations is that in the direction of the prevailing winds at an equal distance from the source, information collection points (points) are laid. At the same time, it is good to combine various research methods - chemical, biological (for example, bioindication), geographical, etc. On the windward side, at some distance from the source, it is also necessary to lay an observation point that will play the role of a control point, but only if it is not located on the windward side of another equally powerful source. Comparing the results obtained for lee points located at different distances from the source between themselves and with the control point, you can clearly show the impact of this enterprise on the state of the environment and determine the area of its impact.
Of course, with a limited number of observations, you will not be able to recreate biogeochemical cycles. This task is only possible for large scientific teams, but you will already be able to judge the level of pollution and the sources that make the maximum contribution to the pollution of the natural environment in your area. The ultimate goal of conducting a comprehensive survey of the territory is to assess the state of pollution in your area. The assessment includes a comparison of pollution levels in your area with other areas, the usual, background levels of pollution for selected pollutants, and determining the strength of the impact and the compliance of the quality of the environment with accepted maximum allowable standards. Unfortunately, environmental standards have not been fully developed and it is often necessary to use only the sanitary and hygienic standards listed in the list of additional literature. You can get acquainted with the background levels in local SES, environmental committees and in the yearbooks of Roshydromet.
References:
"Program of Comprehensive Study of Pollution of Terrestrial Ecosystems (Introduction to the Problem of Environmental Monitoring)" Yu.A. Buivolov, A.S. Bogolyubov, M.: Ecosystem, 1997.
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