Statistics in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

Statistics in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment details how statistics plays an essential role in every step of an environmental monitoring and assessment program, from the sampling design to the data management and data analysis methods that are used to extract meaningful information for environmental quality management.

Large temporal and spatial variations of the environmental variables present a great challenge for producing a representative characterisation of the status of any given environmental media, water, air, biota, or solid. This book explains these issues in an easy-to-understand manner and illustrates using actual applications in real-life case studies. Each case study comes with a clear explanation for every related fundamental concept and methodology that details the statistical methods used in the analysis and considerations taken when using a particular method.

Primarily intended for graduate students in environmental sciences who wish to use statistics as a research tool, it will also benefit researchers who are interested in applications of statistical methods for designing environmental monitoring programs and analysis of environmental data to assess the status of various environmental matrices. This book is organised in three parts with Part I providing a review of the basics of statistics, Part II focusing on sampling designs, and Part III focusing on applications of statistical methods for data analysis.

Key Features:

• Contains real-life case studies
• Includes practical statistical designs for environmental sampling
• Analyses monitoring data for environmental assessment
• Comprehensively explains theoretical parts related to the statistical analysis methods

Shinichi Okamoto is a professor emeritus of Tokyo University of Information Sciences, holding a doctorate degree from Waseda University. He worked for the Industrial Pollution Control Association of Japan (currently the JEMAI) for nine years then joined the Tokyo University of Information Sciences, as a professor and retired in 2014, having served as the dean of the undergraduate and graduate schools. He has published 36 books or book chapters, and about 160 academic papers, offered intensive lectures on Statistics in the sampling design course, once a year since 2000, as a visiting professor at AIT. In 2004, he received the Teaching Award for this course from the School of Environment, Resources and Development of AIT.

Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh is a distinguished professor at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) with over 35 years of working experience in research and education. She has been affiliated with the Environmental Engineering and Management Program of AIT since 1997 and is the founding director of the AIT research Centre for Nexus of Air Quality, Health, Ecosystem, and Climate. Recognised for her efforts in characterising environmental pollution issues in Asian developing countries, Prof. Kim Oanh has been selected to serve in several professional organisations and has been credited with over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers and book chapters, 2 books (ed.), and many important development reports.