Abstract
An investigation of water‐quality sampling strategies, applicable to real‐time sampling programs, is presented. The sampling strategies are designed to be a component of the data‐collection process for the determination of the annual mass load of pollutants, or nutrients, in a river. As such, the sampling schemes are intended for use in situations where stream‐flow data are collected regularly, but concentration data are collected during only a limited number of time periods. The sampling strategies are evaluated through the use of a Monte Carlo experiment that created synthetic stream‐flow and associated nutrient concentration data. The performance of each sampling strategy is evaluated and compared in terms of an accuracy measure and a precision measure to establish the relative merits of the proposed schemes. A sampling scheme incorporating stratified sampling with realtime updating of the sampling characteristics is found to give the best estimate of the annual mass load.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call