A set of conditions associated with monitoring a given environment is received. One or more locations in the given environment are determined, based on at least a portion of the received set of conditions, for which data is to be acquired. The given environment is traversed through the one or more locations. Data at the one or more locations is acquired. The acquired data is stored for subsequent review. One or more of the above steps are performed under control of a processing device at least a part of which is mounted on a mobile platform that is configured to move through the given environment. Determination of the one or more locations in the given environment may further include determining an extended region to be observed.