The publication of this Handbook was supported by the Russian Federation

The theoretical and methodological background to monitoring
Monitoring was developed as a new tool of  natural sciences in the early 1970s in response to two 
main factors: 1) increasing environmental problems and 2) technological advances that allowed for 
the development of  new and efficient means to control the state of  the environment.
According to the authors [15], the aim of  monitoring is to effectively manage the environment 
under the conditions of  the dynamic development of  local communities. The main tasks of  
monitoring include observation, control and prognosis of  the state of  the environment.
A prospective monitoring site should be highly sensitive to any change in the environment. Standard 
methods should be used with an obligatory statistical analysis of  monitoring data. Special attention 
should be paid to the synchronicity and comparability of  monitoring data and to the development 
of  appropriate software (mathematical) and the technical basis for monitoring [10].
Research conducted within a framework of  ecological monitoring should be aimed at obtaining 
information needed for developing forecasts and recommendations regarding the control of  
natural and human-induced processes. A general scheme for the remote sensing monitoring of  the 
salinization of  irrigated lands is presented in Fig. 2.1.

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Soil salinity manаgement manual | Part I.Soil salinity management in the Eurasian Region