An integrated approach to environmental data management is necessitated by the complexity of the environmental problems that need to be addresses, coupled with the interdisciplinary approach that needs to be adopted to solve them. Agenda 21 of the Rio Environmental Conference mandated international programmes and organizations to take steps to develop common data and information management plans, and steps have been taken in this direction.
The key word that defines the framework of the present book is `integration'. The book establishes the basics of integrated approaches and covers environmental data management systems within that framework, covering all aspects of data management, from objectives and constraints, design of data collection networks, statistical and physical sampling, remote sensing and GIS, databases, reliability of data, data analysis, and the transformation of data into information.

Inhalt
I. Introduction.- The Need for Integrated Approaches to Environmental Data Management.- Prevailing Problems in Environmental Data Management.- II. Objectives, Constraints and Institutional Aspects of Environmental Data Management.- Organizational Aspects of Environmental Monitoring and Information Management - Findings of the EU Study Monitoring Water Quality in the Future.- Data Management and the European Union Information Policy.- Nature's Data and Data's Nature.- Integrated Approach A Key to Solving Global Problems.- Policy and Decision Making As a Focus for Integrated Data Management.- III. Design of Data Collection Networks.- On the Proper Selection of Surrogate Measures in the Design of Data Collection Networks.- Improved Predictions of Water Quality Values and Design of Sampling Strategies Based on Entropy Theory.- Designing and Redesigning Environmental Monitoring Programs from an Ecosystem Perspective.- Temporal (and Spatial) Scales and Sampling Requirements in Environmental Flows (with Emphasis on Inland and Coastal Waters).- IV. Physical Sampling and Presentation of Data.- Monitoring, Evaluation and Presentation of Air Pollution Data and Their Consequence in Environmental Data Management Systems in Middle Europe.- Sampling of Municipal Solid Wastes.- Integration of Remote Sensing Information, Digital Elevation Models and Digital Maps within a GIS to Generate New Spatial Environmental Data Sets for Water Management Purposes.- Use of Remote Sensing Data from Airborne and Spaceborne Active Microwave Sensors Towards Hydrological Modeling.- Health and Environment Geographic Information Systems (HEGIS) for Europe and Requirements for Indicators.- V. Data Processing and Reliability Considerations.- Transboundary Water Pollution Monitoring: DataValidation and Interpretation.- Conceptual Filters for Data Quality Assurance - Implementation of Fuzzy Logic in Oceanographic Data Quality Assurance.- Organization of Marine Data Processing in Real Time Mode.- New Approaches to Development of Integrated Methods for Data Processing in Environmental Monitoring Systems.- Modern Theory of Reliability and Control of the Environment.- VI. Statistical Sampling and Analysis.- Probabilistic Flow Duration Curves for Use in Environmental Planning and Management.- Estimation of Missing Values with Use of Entropy.- Principal Component Analysis of Hydrologic Data.- System of Identification of an Optimum Flood Frequency Model with Time Dependent Parameters (IDT).- Performance of Groundwater Quality Models Evaluated with Data Containing Errors.- VII. Environmental Databases.- The Development of Ecological and Hydrological Integrated Environmental Data Sets within the UK and the Establishment of an Environmental Change Network.- Marine Environmental Data Formatting Systems and Formats for Data Collection, Accumulation and Dissemination Including International Exchange.- Multipurpose Database Management Systems for Marine Environmental Research.- VIII. Transfer of Data into Information for Environmental Decision Making.- Integrated Environmental Information Systems: From Data to Information.- Assessing the Performance of a Nation in Improving River Water Quality: Planning Action for the Future.- Analysis of the Information Content of Environmental Data Using GIS Procedures.- Decision Support and Expert Systems for Evaluation of Hydrometeorological Conditions at Sea.- Integrated Methods for Obtaining Specialized Hydrometeorological Information.- IX. Conclusions and Recommendations.- Conclusions and Recommendations.- X. Case Studies.- Water Quality Monitoring Activities of the State Hydraulic Works.- Monitoring and Assessment of Biological Status of a Watercourse Towards an Integrated Approach to Water Management.- Water Monitoring in Irrigation Systems.- Some Results of Environmental Monitoring in Kyrgyzstan: Atmospheric Transfer of Contaminants.- GIS as a Tool in Data Management in the Coastal Zone: An Application to Izmir Bay.- Environmental Assessment of Geological Hazards Related to Sulphur Exploration in Poland Using Remote Sensing and GIS.- Oceanographic Data Development for Anoxic Zone Boundary in the Black Sea.- Development of a Monitoring System for Water Quality Control in Ukraine.- Collection, Accumulation and Utilization of Data in IGOSS RNODC of Russian Federation.- Analysis of Climatic Characteristics of Hydrometeorological Conditions at the Sea.- River Basin Environmental Passport and Database.- Application of Databases for Decision Making.- List of Abbreviations and Acronyms.