Form Approved
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE
OMB No. 0704-0188
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1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank)
2. REPORT DATE
3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED
August 1996
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
5. FUNDING NUMBERS
Assessment of Sampling Error Associated with Collection and
Analysis of Soil Samples at Explosives-Contaminated Sites
6. AUTHORS
Thomas F. Jenkins, Clarence L. Grant, Gurdarshan S. Brar,
Philip G. Thorne, Thomas A. Ranney and Patricia W. Schumacher
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
REPORT NUMBER
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
72 Lyme Road
Special Report 96-15
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755-1290
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
10. SPONSORING/MONITORING
AGENCY REPORT NUMBER
U.S. Army Environmental Center
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland 21010-5401
SFIM-AEC-ET-CR-96157
11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
For conversion of SI units to non-SI units of measurement consult ASTM Standard E380-93, Standard Practice for Use of the
International System of Units, published by the American Society for Testing and Materials, 1916 Race St., Philadelphia, Pa.
19103.
12a. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Available from NTIS, Springfield, Virginia 22161
13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)
This study is an assessment of short-range heterogeneity in contaminant concentrations within surface soils at
explosives-contaminated sites. Intensive sampling was conducted over short distances. Discrete and composite
samples were analyzed by both on-site colorimetric methods and standard laboratory protocols. Three locations
were sampled at each of three installations and the results used to estimate the relative contributions of analytical
error and sampling error to the total uncertainty. The major contaminant at seven of the nine sampling locations
was TNT; results from the on-site colorimetric method were in excellent agreement with laboratory results using
SW846 Method 8330. DNT and ammonium picrate were the contaminants present at the highest concentration in
the other two locations. For four sampling locations, short-range concentration variations were modest and
analyte distribution was sufficiently Gaussian to apply normal distribution statistics to fractionate the total error
variances. For these four locations, analysis standard deviations were always much lower than the sampling
standard deviations; total error was dominated by sampling error, whether characterization was done using on-
site or laboratory analysis. The other five sampling locations had enormous short-range heterogeneity and
sampling error overwhelmed analytical error. To improve the quality of site characterization data, emphasis
should be placed on reducing sampling error by the use of composite sampling strategies. Characterization of
explosives-contaminated sites using composite sampling, in-field sample homogenization, and on-site analysis is
an efficient method of producing data that are accurate and precise, and also representative of the area.
14. SUBJECT TERMS
15. NUMBER OF PAGES
Ammonium picrate
DNT
Heterogeneity
Soil
47
Analytical error
Explosives
On-site analysis
TNT
16. PRICE CODE
Colorimetric methods
Field screening
Sampling error
17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
20. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT
OF REPORT
OF THIS PAGE
OF ABSTRACT
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
UL
Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89)
NSN 7540-01-280-5500
Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39-18
298-102
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