Geostatistical analysis of soil metal concentrations and soil biological activity
- Argonne National Lab., IL (United States). Environmental Assessment Div.
Spatial distribution of several critical biological soil parameters were determined for a metal contaminated grassland ecosystem at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland, USA. The spatial correlation of a number of indicators of soil biological activity with the sum of the concentrations of Pb, Cu, and Zn was determined. Geostatistical techniques were used to determine spatial distributions of these parameters and to evaluate various cross-correlations. Geostatistical techniques allow the spatial correlation to be determined for two variables even if sample points are not co-located. The parameter distributions were found to be spatially correlated within themselves and negatively cross-correlated. The cross-correlation between biological activity and metal concentration was analyzed using two methods: a cross semi-variogram, a standard geostatistical tool, and an interactive graphical data representation using geostatistically estimated data distributions. This estimation technique honors sample points and uses a least squares minimization technique to estimate the data for display. The graphical analysis technique involves displaying a surface in three dimensional space, the topology of which was generated by one variable and the surface colored by a second. Both the visualization technique and the cross semi-variogram showed a negative correlation between the biological activity and the metal concentrations. This study found that geostatistics are a useful tool for describing and analyzing spatial data. Visualization techniques further aided analysis by clearly presenting complex relationships for study.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 398180
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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