U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program, 1990-1998

The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) was a national research program run by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development from 1990 to 2008 to develop the tools necessary to monitor and assess the status and trends of national ecological resources. Initially, resources included estuaries and coastal waters, wadeable streams, lakes, wetlands, forests, agroecosystems, arid areas, and landscape ecology. Later, this was narrowed down to just the aquatic resources. The EMAP field data described here were collected from 1990 to 1998. EMAP's goal was to develop the scientific understanding for translating environmental monitoring data from multiple spatial and temporal scales into assessments of current ecological condition and forecasts of future risks to our natural resources. EMAP aimed to advance the science of ecological monitoring and ecological risk assessment, guide national monitoring with improved scientific understanding of ecosystem integrity and dynamics, and demonstrate multi-agency monitoring through large regional projects. EMAP developed indicators to monitor the condition of ecological resources. EMAP also investigated designs that addressed the acquisition, aggregation, and analysis of multiscale and multitier data. Monitoring of the nation’s aquatic resources is now being routinely conducted by the National Aquatic Resource Surveys, run by U.S. EPA’s Office of Water.环境监测与评估计划（Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program，EMAP）是1990年至2008年间由美国环境保护署（U.S. Environmental Protection Agency，EPA）研究与开发办公室运营的国家级研究项目，旨在开发必要工具以监测和评估全国生态资源的现状与变化趋势。 初期纳入监测范围的生态资源包括河口（estuaries）、沿海水域（coastal waters）、可涉水溪流（wadeable streams）、湖泊（lakes）、湿地（wetlands）、森林（forests）、农业生态系统（agroecosystems）、干旱区域（arid areas）及景观生态学（landscape ecology）相关资源。后续该计划的监测范围收窄至仅涵盖水生资源（aquatic resources）。 本文所述的EMAP野外监测数据采集于1990年至1998年间。 EMAP的核心目标是构建科学认知体系，以实现将多时空尺度（spatial and temporal scales）的环境监测数据转化为当前生态状况评估与自然资源未来风险预测的能力。其旨在推动生态监测与生态风险评估学科发展，通过深化对生态系统完整性（ecosystem integrity）与动态变化的科学认知指导国家级监测工作，并依托大型区域项目展示多部门协同监测（multi-agency monitoring）的实践模式。 EMAP开发了用于监测生态资源状况的指标体系，同时研究了适配多尺度、多层级数据（multiscale and multitier data）的获取、聚合与分析的方案设计。 目前，全国水生资源的常态化监测工作由美国环境保护署水资源办公室运营的国家水生资源调查（National Aquatic Resource Surveys）项目负责实施。