ON SOIL SAMPLING GUIDELINE FOR SOIL STUDIES

Abstract

In the frame of the international soil sampling project, funded and coordinated by the Italian Environmental Protection Agency, The soil sampling guidelines used in European countries ESSG. As kindly provided by the national institutions which participated in the project, have been recorded, studied, evaluated and presented. It was characterized for trace element content in soil, in terms of the spatial and temporal variability of their mass fraction. They suggest mass- and volume-related soil sampling, while the sampling pattern is not presented in all national guidelines. The criteria for area, site, unit, sub-unit, and point selection are mainly based on pedology and land use, following the history and pre-screening information or geology, or are site related. Some guidelines suggest the division of sampling units into sub-units. The aim has been to ascertain what soil sampling guidelines exist in Europe; to detect similarities and differences advantages and deficiencies; to identify incompatible strategies and evaluate how methodologies might affect data quality; to investigate sources of deviations or uncertainties; to improve comparability and representative ness of soil sampling; to investigate the need for harmonized sampling guidelines; and to develop suggestions for standard operating procedures SOP. The purpose for sampling, in descending order of frequency, is soil pollution, soil fertilization, general soil monitoring, background risk assessment, or else it is not specified. The majority of countries do not sample the top organic matter separately. The sampling pattern is mainly grid sampling, grid and random sampling, or not mentioned. Sampling density inside the sampling unit either varies greatly or it is not mentioned, while the size of the sampling unit varies widely. Most guidelines require the collection of composite instead of simple samples, while some prefer sampling soil profiles. in the pre-analysis treatment quality assurance QA.And quality control QC. Approaches are used either both in the lab and in the field, or only in the field, or are not mentioned. It characterized in term of trace elements, can be also used to compare the soil sampling strategies developed for radionuclide investigations.