Environmental Sampling and

Analysis

What is a Sample?

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You could be sampling for many reasons

1. Survey: initial overview

2. Monitoring: long term (catch any
problems that arise)
3. Regulations: someone says you must
4. Scientific study: to answer a research
question
5. Emergency response: immediate
information is needed
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 Steps in Environmental Analysis

1. Objective: What is your question(s)?

2. Sampling: What can you collect that will
allow you to answer your question?
3. Sample treatment: How do you process
the sample?
4. Analysis: What technique/instrument will
you use?
5. Data interpretation: What does it mean?

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 Sample Types
1. Homogeneous
Sample

• Uniform composition
• Mixed well

So : Anywhere you take the sample from, it will be the same.

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2. Heterogeneous Sample

• Variation in composition
• Not well mixed

So- if you take the sample from different places, it may

be different

Why is this in
the image?
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 3. Grab Sample
• Discrete
sample from
one spot at one
time

• Like a
snapshot

Most samples you take will be grab

samples 6
 4. Composite Sample
Mixing several discrete samples (by weight or volume)
to create one sample that is representative.

Why might you do this?

10 g
A
These
are? 10 g
B

10 g

C Analyze this
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 Sampling Scenario

x x
Scope
x
Representative
x x
Bias
x
x
x

x x

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Can one sample be both a homogeneous
sample and a grab sample?

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What Influences the Quality of
the Data?

1. Homogeneity

Is the analyte uniformly dispersed?

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 2. Validity

a) Specificity b) Accuracy

Does the thing you How close is the

are measuring measured value to
really answer the the true value?
question?

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 3. Reliability

a) Resolution b) Precision

What is the smallest Do repeated

change in true value measures resemble
that can be each other?
detected?

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Accuracy and Precision

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 Resolution
+
This image was made of
spools of thread.

Can you tell what it is?

How ‘clearly’ is it
resolved?

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Brain exhibit at Museum of Nature
 Which is a Composite sample?
a) Taking a bottle of water out of the middle
of the stream on Tuesday
b) Adding 100mL of Tuesday’s sample to
100mL of Friday’s sample
c) Taking 3 samples from a stream, 100 m
apart.

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 Which is Homogeneous?
a) Fruit on the bottom yogurt
b) An Oreo cookie
c) Lasagna
d) A smoothie

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If pH is really 6.4, which is a measure of
precision?
a) 6.4
b) 3.1, 7.6, 11.2
c) 6.5, 6.3, 6.4
d) 8.1, 8.0, 8.2
e) c and d

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 Which balance has the best resolution?

a) The one that can weigh 100kg

b) The one that weighs 1.0 g
c) The one that weighs 1.000 g
d) The stainless steel one

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 What causes errors in data?

a) Untrained personnel
b) Malfunctioning equipment
c) Not understanding analyte chemistry
d) All of the above

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 Error free data is the Ideal
But it is possible that the data is
not error free- just don’t pretend
that it is.

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