Process monitoring

The present chapter starts by recalling why monitoring real word processes is fundamental in science, that is because quantitative, accurate data about geomorphological dynamics cannot be substituted by modeling activities. Subsequently, some general concepts relative to the monitoring of geomorphological processes are laid out, especially regarding the spatial and temporal scales of the measurements. The main core of the chapter is represented by a state of the art of monitoring techniques for fluvial processes, debris flows, landslides, as well as for glacial and periglacial processes. A final section regarding the most desirable future developments for the monitoring of these processes closes the chapter.