Monitoring plan
The standing document that specifies what a project measures, how often, with which instruments, and how data are stored and checked.
A monitoring plan is the operating manual for evidence. It names every parameter to be measured, the method and instrument, the frequency, the responsible party, the data quality check applied, and the archive where records live.
Its purpose is continuity. Projects outlive the people who designed them, and a plan written for an auditor makes it possible for a new team to reproduce the same measurements years later. Plans are therefore versioned, and changes require justification.
Verifiers start here. If a plan is vague about a parameter that matters, the resulting estimate is weak no matter how careful the fieldwork looked, because there is no rule against which practice can be judged.
Frequently asked questions
How often should a monitoring plan be updated?
When methods, boundaries or instruments change materially, and at defined review intervals even if nothing has changed.
Does a monitoring plan cover remote sensing?
It should. Imagery sources, processing steps, classification methods and accuracy assessment all belong in the plan.