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Multiparameter and multiscale real-time environmental monitoring of a river and estuary system will be realized through the River and Estuary Observatory Network (REON) for the Hudson River in New York. In this paper, we describe a system under development that provides a holistic view of this complex and dynamic natural environment for scientific research, education, management, and environmental policy-related applications. The system incorporates a complex array of sensor technologies encompassing the physical, chemical, and biological measurement domains. REON supports Lagrangian, Eulerian, and autonomous robot sensor deployments, as well as flexible telemetry options through an open and consistent middleware architecture with advanced device management capabilities. Multimodal data streams are ingested and analyzed by an intelligent distributed streaming data analysis system known as System S. The challenges of managing high volumes of complex heterogeneous data are addressed via a distributed network of intelligent computational nodes that incorporate both autonomic algorithms and active knowledge management including a temporal component. REON provides an adaptive computing environment that provides isotropy in terms of data access and collaborative computation in contrast to traditional hierarchical control systems for sensor environments. Also presented is the underlying information infrastructure that supports a robust and integrated data modeling, simulation, and visualization manifold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]