Guidance to reduce sampling uncertainty (D9.60): Application to radiological monitoring

    Research outputpeer-review

    Abstract

    This report presents part of the work undertaken in CONCERT sub-subtask 9.3.1.1 (i.e. TERRITORIES task 1.1), which addresses radiological characterisation of long-term contaminated territories. This radiological characterisation can be based on multiple monitoring resources and therefore will depend on the methods used, the spatial and temporal integration scales applied, the actors performing the measurements and the objectives of the monitoring campaign. Some general aspects about monitoring have already been covered in a previous CONCERT-TERRITORIES deliverable (CONCERT-TERRITORIES D9.74, 2018), which included some terminology discussions about the words “sampling” and “monitoring”, and provided general recommendations about the sampling of a material from an environment, its transport to the laboratory, preservation and traceability. Therefore such aspects will not be covered in the present document. The deliverable D9.60 addresses sampling strategies, sampling uncertainties, and how to reduce them to better assess spatial and temporal variability. In this document, the word “sampling” is used with its statistical definition, i.e. the selection of a set of units or elements from a larger population, typically to be observed to make inferences regarding that population and “monitoring” is used in a broader sense, including all methods, actors and objectives mentioned above. Several documents have addressed the description of uncertainties associated with the radiological characterization of territories, including measurement and sampling uncertainties, as well as the numerical methods available to optimize the number of samples needed for a good characterization in order to have a good understanding of variability. The present document D9.60 intends to develop a summary of the most used techniques for characterizing sampling uncertainty, providing technical guidance on their practical implementation, and some recommendations on reduction of sampling uncertainty.
    Original languageEnglish
    PublisherSCK CEN
    Number of pages39
    StatePublished - 30 Jul 2019

    Publication series

    NameSCK•CEN Reports
    PublisherStudiecentrum voor Kernenergie
    No.T-0348

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