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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Sampling Soils in a Heterogeneous Research Plot
Published on: January 7, 2019
Estimation of uncertainty arising from different soil sampling devices: the use of variogram parameters
Paolo de Zorzi1, Sabrina Barbizzi, Maria Belli
1Agenzia per la Protezione dell'Ambiente e per i Servizi Tecnici (APAT), Servizio Laboratori, Misure ed Attività di Campo, Via di Castel Romano, 100-00128 Roma, Italy. paolo.dezorzi@apat.it
Abstract:
In the frame of the international SOILSAMP project, funded and coordinated by the National Environmental Protection Agency of Italy (APAT), uncertainties due to field soil sampling were assessed. Three different sampling devices were applied in an agricultural area using the same sampling protocol. Cr, Sc and Zn mass fractions in the collected soil samples were measured by k(0)-instrumental neutron activation analysis (k(0)-INAA). For each element-device combination the experimental variograms were calculated using geostatistical tools. The variogram parameters were used to estimate the standard uncertainty arising from sampling. The sampling component represents the dominant contribution of the measurement uncertainty with a sampling uncertainty to measurement uncertainty ratio ranging between 0.6 and 0.9. The approach based on the use of variogram parameters leads to uncertainty values of the sampling component in agreement with those estimated by replicate sampling approach.
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