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Comparison of three nonparametric kriging methods for delineating heavy-metal contaminated soils

Journal Article · · Journal of Environmental Quality

The probability of pollutant concentrations greater than a cutoff value is useful for delineating hazardous areas in contaminated soils. It is essential for risk assessment and reclamation. In this study, three nonparametric kriging methods [indicator kriging, probability kriging, and kriging with the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of order statistics (CDF kriging)] were used to estimate the probability of heavy-metal concentrations lower than a cutoff value. In terms of methodology, the probability kriging estimator and CDF kriging estimator take into account the information of the order relation, which is not considered in indicator kriging. Since probability kriging has been shown to be better than indicator kriging for delineating contaminated soils, the performance of CDF kriging, which the authors propose, was compared with that of probability kriging in this study. A data set of soil Cd and Pb concentrations obtained from a 10-ha heavy-metal contaminated site in Taoyuan, Taiwan, was used. The results demonstrated that the probability kriging and CDF kriging estimations were more accurate than the indicator kriging estimation. On the other hand, because the probability kriging was based on the cokriging estimator, some unreliable estimates occurred in the probability kriging estimation. This indicated that probability kriging was not as robust as CDF kriging. Therefore, CDF kriging is more suitable than probability kriging for estimating the probability of heavy-metal concentrations lower than a cutoff value.

Research Organization:
National Taiwan Univ., Taipei (TW)
OSTI ID:
20075829
Journal Information:
Journal of Environmental Quality, Journal Name: Journal of Environmental Quality Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 29; ISSN JEVQAA; ISSN 0047-2425
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English