Our environment has been going through a lot of changes over the past couple of centuries which is why monitoring it has become an important factor. Environmental monitoring helps us understand how our environment is behaving in order to protect itself from human activities. There are various environmental factors which can be inspected with the help of different devices. Most of them have come a long way and can now fit in your hand making monitoring even easier. These devices are available for use by both governments and their people.
The Importance of Environmental Monitoring?
For both governmental and non-governmental bodies the importance of environmental monitoring mostly has to do with air pollutants. Analysing patterns and trends regarding the presence of these pollutants with the proper environmental monitoring equipment allows for better regulations upon car manufacturers and manufacturers from other industries.
Environmental Management Programs
These plans include improving various other environmental aspects, except for air quality, with the help of adequate environmental monitoring equipment.
Architects & Engineers
When designing a building or a bridge, both engineers and architects need to know if there are certain environmental factors that can affect the strength of these structures. It’s important to know the level at which sea water rises or if there are vibrations nearby that can affect stability.
Resource Management
Environmental monitoring of cyclones, heavy rainfall and tsunamis can help farmers hunters and fishermen plan ahead of time. Also, residents can get to a safe space before a natural hazard sweeps their residential area. Farmers benefit a lot from environmental test equipment since they can get information about the soil which can then be used to find the fertiliser that’s most suitable.
Types of Environmental Monitoring Equipment
Air Flow Meter
An air flow meter is a device that measures the rate of airflow. Also known as a mass air flow sensor, this unit effectively measures the velocity of air and also air pressure. There are some air flow meters that can detect the direction of the wind alongside the above mentioned features. There are 4 types of air flow meters cup anemometer, vane air flow meter, hot wire and pitot tube air flow meter. Air flow meters are used to find out the adequate fuel to air ratio in industries where efficient ignition is key. They are also used as safety devices such as in mining, nuclear power plants and other hazardous environments.
Thermal Camera
Thermal cameras are devices capable of detecting night vision. Heat is transferred with the help of infrared radiation. While we can sense this form of radiation in the form of heat, some levels of infrared radiation are not as intense thus we can’t feel them.
Every object emits some sort of infrared radiation which a thermal camera presents to us as an image. Various colours are used to show the intensity of the heat (red meaning a lot of heat). Thermal cameras are used to locate areas where a house loses heat through the most and police helicopters use it to locate suspects at night, among other applications.
Moisture Meter
A moisture meter is exactly what it sounds like, a device capable of detecting the level of moisture in a certain area. A moisture meter can also measure other relative humidity, dew point and moisture contained in materials. There are two types of moisture meters: pin and capacative (non-destructive) meters. A pin moisture meter is used to measure the moisture levels in the soil through the soil’s constructiveness by sending electrical current from one pin to the other. A capacative meter is able to detect moisture in materials by emitting a high frequency signal to measure changes in capacitance.
Lux Meter
Lux or often called lumen meters are used to measure the amount of light over a particular area distributed from a specified distance. The device is called lux/ lumen meter because it measures the light in units called
