THE EFFECTS OF SAMPLING DESIGN PARAMETERS ON BLOCK SELECTION

Cost-effective spatial sampling strategy requires balancing sampling costs with the expected benefits from improved information. A contaminated site numerical model was used to test various single-phase sampling schemes, which were evaluated based on the quality of block selections from interpolated values. Different sample set sizes, different sampling patterns, and two levels of sampling precision were used. The sample set size was the only one of these factors observed to be significant. Bias was also examined. Modest levels (< 20%) had minimal impact; the effects of higher levels of bias varied with the selection level concentration.