Traceabilty of environmental soil measurements

Abstract

Traceability is a key concept in environmental soil measurements, and should be linked with any soil measurement, especially long-term soil monitoring, which needs to demonstrate measurement quality. This article presents the main soil measurements of environmental concern, including traceability, uncertainties and possible errors, for each step in the process. It starts with sampling the soil in the field, treatment and conditioning in the field, transportation, storage and preservation of the sample in the laboratory, then goes on to the pre-analytical treatment and preparation for analyses, including the main extraction methods and analytical techniques and instruments employed. The article highlights the traceability links that should be considered for soil measurements to achieve data comparability. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.