Measure environmental characteristics.

Measure environmental characteristics. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 7 occupations and seen in 10 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Monitor environmental conditions. in Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings .

Detailed work activities are the most granular shared layer in O*NET's work-activity hierarchy (Generalized → Intermediate → Detailed → occupation-specific task). The figures below describe how this activity shows up across the economy and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the work will be automated.

AI exposure

Of the 10 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 7 (70%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

The Anthropic Economic Index observes real AI use on 1 of these tasks, with a mean mapped-usage share of 0.020% per task.

Exposure estimates overlap with model capabilities — whether a model could speed the task up — not whether the work will be done by software. Observed AI use is augmentation and assistance today, not jobs replaced.

Member tasks

Occupation-specific tasks O*NET maps to this detailed work activity, most important first.

• Assess ground or surface water movement to provide advice on issues, such as waste management, route and site selection, or the restoration of contaminated sites. · Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers · importance 4.2 · exposure with tools
• Inventory or estimate plant and wildlife populations. · Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists · importance 4.1 · exposure with tools
• Measure and graph phenomena such as lake levels, stream flows, and changes in water volumes. · Hydrologists · importance 4.0 · exposure with tools
• Measure radio, infrared, gamma, and x-ray emissions from extraterrestrial sources. · Astronomers · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Measure and assess vegetation resources for biological assessment companies, environmental impact statements, and rangeland monitoring programs. · Range Managers · importance 3.9 · exposure with tools
• Measure characteristics of the Earth, such as gravity or magnetic fields, using equipment such as seismographs, gravimeters, torsion balances, or magnetometers. · Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers · importance 3.8 · no direct exposure
• Map forest area soils and vegetation to estimate the amount of standing timber and future value and growth. · Foresters · importance 3.5 · exposure with tools
• Calculate orbits and determine sizes, shapes, brightness, and motions of different celestial bodies. · Astronomers · importance 3.3 · exposure with tools
• Measure wind, temperature, and humidity in the upper atmosphere, using weather balloons. · Atmospheric and Space Scientists · importance 3.2 · no direct exposure
• Survey park to determine forest conditions and distribution and abundance of fauna and flora. · Park Naturalists · importance 2.9 · exposure with tools

Occupations that perform this

• Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers
• Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists
• Hydrologists
• Astronomers
• Range Managers
• Foresters
• Atmospheric and Space Scientists

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-measure-environmental-characteristics,
  title  = {Measure environmental characteristics.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/measure-environmental-characteristics}
}