Quality assurance and quality control in monitoring programs

There are three general characteristics of the data to be collected in a monitoring program that should be met in order to maximize the use and value of the data: the data quality should be known, the data type and quality should be consistent and comparable, and the data should be available and accessible. Potential problems with each of these characteristics are addressed effectively by quality assurance and quality control. One of the most important aspects of quality assurance in a monitoring program is the development of a quality assurance plan, which should identify clearly the quality of the data needed and describe in detail the planned actions to provide confidence that the program will meet its stated objectives.Quality control data, which allow for the quality and suitability of the environmental data to be evaluated and ascertained, should be collected and utilized as an integral part of the QA effort associated with a monitoring program.     

QA/QC措施在中哈有机氯农药联合监测工作中的应用

为了说清伊犁河出、入境断面六六六、DDT等4种有机氯农药的检出问题,中国与哈萨克斯坦双方分别在中方的三道河子断面和哈方的杜本断面进行了联合研究性监测。中方采取现场采集平行样并加带全程序空白样品,实验室采用溶剂空白、实验室空白、全程序空白、平行双样以及加标回收分析等质控措施,使哈方专家认可中方监测数据的准确性和有效性,保证了双方的监测结果被中哈环保合作委员会接受和采用。研究以中哈跨界河流实际监测的典型实例,论证了质量保证与质量控制措施（QA/QC）在跨国界河流联合监测工作中的重要作用。     

Ensuring quality in long term environmental monitoring for chemical speciation

The awareness regarding quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) for environmental monitoring has considerably increased in the past few years, especially with respect to the determination of chemical species, since errors occurring at various levels may considerably affect the interpretation of results (e.g. studies of toxic impact, geochemical pathways, etc.). QA for environmental analysis covers a broad range of activities from sample collection to laboratory work and the approach for ensuring quality data should be considered in a global context. However, whereas great emphasis has been placed on QA within the laboratory, there have been few systematic attempts to evaluate risks of discrepancies related, for example, to field manipulations. The situation is even worse when monitoring is applied to relatively new fields such as chemical speciation. This paper outlines some of the main aspects of quality control of environmental analysis, including the validation of methods, sampling and sample handling, storage, etc., with special emphasis on the monitoring of chemical forms of elements (e.g. species of tin, mercury, lead and selenium).     

Many roads may lead to Rome: Selected features of quality control within environmental assessment systems in the US,NL, CA,and UK

As there is no one-and-only concept on how to precisely define and establish quality control (QC) or quality assurance (QA) in the making of environmental assessments (EA), this paper presents selected features of international approaches that address quality in EA systems in the USA, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Based on explanative case studies, we highlight the embedding of specific quality control features within the EA systems, the objectives and processes, and relevant transparency challenges. Such features of QC/QA approaches can be considered in cases where substantial quality control and assurance efforts are still missing. Yet further research needs to be conducted on the efficacy of these approaches, which remains beyond the scope of this study.     

The role of metadata and strategies to detect and control temporal data bias in environmental monitoring of soil contamination

It is crucial for environmental monitoring to fully control temporal bias, which is the distortion of real data evolution by varying bias through time. Temporal bias cannot be fully controlled by statistics alone but requires appropriate and sufficient metadata, which should be under rigorous and continuous quality assurance and control (QA/QC) to reliably document the degree of consistency of the monitoring system. All presented strategies to detect and control temporal data bias (QA/QC, harmonisation/homogenisation/standardisation, mass balance approach, use of tracers and analogues and control of changing boundary conditions) rely on metadata. The Will Rogers phenomenon, due to subsequent reclassification, is a particular source of temporal data bias introduced to environmental monitoring here. Sources and effects of temporal data bias are illustrated by examples from the Swiss soil monitoring network. The attempt to make a comprehensive compilation and assessment of required metadata for soil contamination monitoring reveals that most metadata are still far from being reliable. This leads to the conclusion that progress in environmental monitoring means further development of the concept of environmental metadata for the sake of temporal data bias control as a prerequisite for reliable interpretations and decisions.     

福建省环境监测质量保证与质量控制现状及任务

通过实验室质量体系的建立与运行、计量认证、人员培训与持证上岗、制定监测技术规范、质量控制考核五个方面阐述了全省环境监测质量保证与质量控制工作的现状,并提出今后全省环境监测质量保证与质量控制工作的任务。     

Framework for designing sampling programs

A general framework for designing sampling programs is described. As part of the sampling program the problem of concern, or reason for sampling, needs to be clearly stated and objectives specified. The development of a conceptual model will assist the clarification of objectives and the choice of indicators to be sampled.Objectives can then be stated as testable hypotheses and decisions made about the samallest difference/changes that are to be detected/observed by the sampling.To allow the collection of representative samples, and the statistical analysis of data to be collected, the potential sources of variability in the data must be considered. Site, selection, frequency and replication must account for the expected variability.Before field collection of samples occurs, the sample collection device needs to be tested as to its efficiency to collect a representative sample. It also will usually be necessary to consider how samples are to be preserved to inhibit biological and chemical change. All sample programs require a quality assurance program to identify, measure and control errors.As well as the above the cost-effectiveness of the program should be evaluated in terms of maximizing the information obtained/cost.     

Improving the precision of sample-based forest damage inventories through two-phase sampling and post-stratification using remotely sensed auxiliary information

Many countries have a national forest inventory (NFI) designed to produce statistically sound estimates of forest parameters. However, this type of inventory may not provide reliable results for forest damage which usually affects only small parts of the forest in a country. For this reason, specially designed forest damage inventories are performed in many countries, sometimes in coordination with the NFIs. In this study, we evaluated a new approach for damage inventory where existing NFI data form the basis for two-phase sampling for stratification and remotely sensed auxiliary data are applied for further improvement of precision through post-stratification. We applied Monte Carlo sampling simulation to evaluate different sampling strategies linked to different damage scenarios. The use of existing NFI data in a two-phase sampling for stratification design resulted in a relative efficiency of 50 % or lower, i.e., the variance was at least halved compared to a simple random sample of the same size. With post-stratification based on simulated remotely sensed auxiliary data, there was additional improvement, which depended on the accuracy of the auxiliary data and the properties of the forest damage. In many cases, the relative efficiency was further reduced by as much as one-half. In conclusion, the results show that substantial gains in precision can be obtained by utilizing auxiliary information in forest damage surveys, through two-phase sampling, through post-stratification, and through the combination of these two approaches, i.e., post-stratified two-phase sampling for stratification.     

Multiscale satellite and spatial information and analysis framework in support of a large-area forest monitoring and inventory update

Many countries undertake a national forest inventory to enable statistically valid monitoring in support of national and international reporting of forest conditions and change. Canada’s National Forest Inventory (NFI) program is designed to operate on a 10-year remeasurement cycle, with an interim report produced at the 5-year mid-point. The NFI is a sample-based inventory, with approximately 18,850 2 ×2-km photo plots across the country, distributed on a 20×20-km grid of sample points; these photo plots are the primary data source for the NFI. Capacity to provide annual monitoring information is required to keep policy and decision makers apprised of current forest conditions. In this study, we implemented a multistage monitoring framework and used a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) change product to successfully identify 78% of the changes in forest cover area that were captured with a Landsat change detection approach. Of the NFI photo plots that were identified by both the Landsat and MODIS approaches as having changes in forest cover, the proportion of change area within the plots was similar (R ²?=?0.78). Approximately 70% of the Landsat-derived change events occupied less than 40% of a single MODIS pixel, and more than 90% of the change events of this size were successfully detected with the MODIS product. Finally, MODIS estimates of the proportion of forest cover change at the NFI photo plot level were comparable to change estimates for the ecoregions as a whole (R ²?=?0.95). High-temporal, low-spatial resolution imagery such as MODIS, in combination with other remotely sensed data sources, can provide information on disturbance events within a national forest inventory remeasurement cycle, thereby satisfying the interim information needs of policy and decision makers as well as the requirements of national and international reporting commitments.     

Quality control and quality assurance for particle size distribution measurements at an urban monitoring station in Augsburg, Germany

Long-term observations of atmospheric constituents such as aerosol particles are increasingly needed to assess their impact on climate and human health. In contrast to particle mass concentration (MC), there are currently no standardized quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) procedures for the measurement of particle size distribution (PSD). This study describes some fundamental QC and QA procedures associated with the collection and evaluation of a 2 year dataset between 2005 and 2006 at an urban background monitoring site in Augsburg, Germany. The considered parametres include ambient PSD between 3 nm and 10 microm (merged from a twin differential mobility and an aerodynamic particle sizer, TDMPS and APS, respectively) as well as total particle number (TNC), length (LC) and MC determined by independent instruments. The hourly 1st and 0th moment of PSD showed good correlations with the independently measured LC (R(2) = 0.86) and TNC (R(2) = 0.79), respectively, the deviation for LC with 4% and for TNC with 22% being rather small. The volume concentration (3rd moment) of hourly measured PSD and the resultant MC (when assuming a realistic apparent density of 1.5 g cm(-3)) correlated well with the independently measured MC of PM(2.5) or PM(10) (R(2) > 0.86) and showed only small deviation from PM(2.5) (1%) or PM(10) (5%), respectively. The study demonstrates that the described QC and QA measures define both a high accuracy of the PSD measurements and their long-term comparability against data obtained in similar measurement programmes.     

Development of a Quality-Assessed Agrichemical Database For Monitoring Anthropogenic Impacts on Ground-Water Quality

The Quality–Assessed Agrichemical Contaminant Database for Nebraska Ground Water is a unique repository of nitrate and pesticide data collected by federal, state, and local agencies. Each contaminant concentration in the database has been evaluated based upon well–defined criteria that address completeness of the well–attribute data, analytical method and field and laboratory quality control practices and assigned to one of five quality levels. The quality assessment level always accompanies the contaminant concentration so that the end–user knows the quality assurance effort expended in the acquisition of the data, can select comparable data, and choose data whose quality assurance effort is commensurate with project objectives. The database can be viewed and queried on–line; downloaded in its entirety; or imported to a spreadsheet or a geographic information system. Setting criteria for data quality and assessing the level of quality have resulted in significant increases in the percentages of high quality (Levels 3–5) nitrate and pesticide data. These high quality data presently constitute 52% of the nitrate and 55% of the pesticide data.     

EPA's monitoring program at Love Canal 1980

Summary As stated at the beginning of this paper conclusions reached thus far cannot be discussed in this paper. However, a great deal of information is available for examination.EPA displayed its ability to coordinate widely separated laboratories, both Federal and private, into a smooth working team in a very short period of time. A very comprehensive study plan was also developed and implemented quickly. EPA was fortunate to have already had GCA under contract when the emergency arose. In no small part the success of the field effort was due to the managerial and technical abilities of the GCA team.Within a period of 6 weeks a plan was developed, a prime contractor retained, subcontractors hired, and field activities begun. Within a period of 3 months in excess of 8600 field samples were collected and over 12,000 field and QC samples were analyzed. During this same period 2 major data systems were developed, debugged, and placed into operation.In short this EPA project was probably the most comprehensive multimedia field project ever attempted by EPA and certainly the data is being subjected to the most strenuous quality control measures ever imposed by this Agency. The entire program is presently under peer review and the results are being prepared for publication by EPA Headquarters.Note. Originally intended to be published as part of the special issue on Exposure Monitoring: An International Workshop (Las Vegas, Nevada, October 19–22, 1981).     

Evaluating Kriging as a Tool to Improve Moderate Resolution Maps of Forest Biomass

The USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program (FIA) recently produced a nationwide map of forest biomass by modeling biomass collected on forest inventory plots as nonparametric functions of moderate resolution satellite data and other environmental variables using Cubist software. Efforts are underway to develop methods to enhance this initial map. We explored the possibility of modeling spatial structure to make such improvements. Spatial structure in the field biomass data as well as in residuals from the map was investigated across 18 ecological zones in the Interior Western U.S. Exploratory tools included directional graphs of summary statistics, three dimensional maps, Moran’s I correlograms, and variograms. Where spatial pattern was present, field and residual biomass were kriged, and predictions made for an independent test set were evaluated for improvement over predictions in the initial biomass map. While kriging has some potential benefit when analyzing the field data and exploring spatial structure, kriging residuals resulted in little or no improvement in the initial biomass map developed using Cubist software. Stationarity assumptions, variogram behavior, and appropriate model fitting strategies are discussed.     

土壤微塑料监测技术现状及方法标准化建议

系统梳理土壤微塑料监测全过程技术方法,包括样品采集和制备、识别与定量、质量保证与质量控制(QA/QC)等环节,比较各方法优缺点,探讨土壤中微塑料监测方法标准化措施,建议完善土壤微塑料监测全过程QA/QC,制定涵盖全流程的监测技术规范,有序建立针对不同监测目标的分析方法标准体系,为土壤微塑料的监测与评估提供技术支撑。     

高精度船舶排放清单在城市空气质量管理中的应用

上海港船舶大气污染物排放对城市空气质量的影响不容小觑。基于船舶AIS数据,高精度船舶大气污染物排放清单得以建立并应用。2018年11月5—10日召开的第一届中国国际进口博览会期间,在气象条件不利的情况下,通过提前实施船舶排放控制区政策等措施,使船舶单日SO_x排放量下降28.5%,一次PM_2.5排放量下降25.5%,全市空气质量达到了保障要求。     

开展环境监测资质审查 加强全省监测队伍建设

在环境监测系统中开展资质审查是对各站现场测试能力、人员素质、实验条件和管理、质量保证及任务完成情况等五方面进行考核,持资质合格证开展监测工作。     

Quality assurance of imposex and intersex measurements in marine snails

Collaboration between the QUASIMEME and BEQUALM projects has proved to be an effective mechanism to further the development of quality assurance procedures for the measurement of the biological effects of tributyltin (imposex and intersex) to meet the requirements of international and national marine monitoring programmes. The data arising from the Laboratory Performance Studies are demonstrating the level of agreement between laboratories, suggesting factors leading to differences between laboratories, and guiding the development of QA procedures.     

How to improve reliability in groundwater analysis: over a decade of experience with external quality control in field campaigns on volatile halogenated compounds

The reliability in measurement results obtained during environmental monitoring is crucial for the assessment and further planning of remediation efforts on the respective contaminated sites by the responsible authorities. A case study concerned with groundwater contaminated with perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane including their degradation products which involves private contract laboratories and an independent provider of quality assurance (QA) is presented. The experience gained with biannual monitoring campaigns over 14 years indicates that the selection of contractors on basis of accreditation status and successful performance in interlaboratory comparisons are not sufficient. Rather the auditing of the contractors by the QA provider prior to each campaign and the crosschecking of selected monitoring samples by the QA provider led to a lasting improvement of reliability in the contractors' measurement results. A mean deviation of 20% from the reference value determined by the QA provider for the crosschecked samples was reached.     

国家重点监控企业环境统计直报数据质量存在问题及改进建议

作为环境统计的重大改革举措之一,国家重点监控企业环境统计数据直报于2013年开始在全国试运行。随着直报工作的逐步深入,如何在高时效的前提下确保数据质量是直报工作面临的关键问题。归纳了目前学术界对数据质量问题的认识及改进建议,分析了中国现行环境统计数据质量存在的主要问题和原因,结合环境保护部门目前正在试运行的国控源直报系统,客观分析了国控源直报系统在环境数据质量控制方面的具体做法和特点,并针对该项制度在全国层面的进一步实施提出了建议。     

基于城市大气挥发性有机物特征分析的数据质量评估方法及案例

城市大气挥发性有机物(VOCs)监测是空气质量监测网的重要组成部分,而数据质量控制和质量保证是VOCs监测的基础。基于8次中国城市大气VOCs外场监测,通过挖掘VOCs浓度、组成和化学活性的内在规律,对VOCs监测数据质量进行评估并总结方法。分析结果显示:城市大气乙烷和苯等长寿命组分具有明显的背景浓度,且区域背景值较为接近,可以用来诊断长寿命VOCs组分浓度异常偏低或偏高现象。而示踪组分的季节(日)变化规律可以用来识别VOCs组分定性问题(如夏季大气异戊二烯和烷基硝酸酯浓度日变化规律应反映植被排放和光化学反应特征)。另外,在气团混合均匀的情况下,VOCs浓度波动与其活性之间存在负相关,这一规律可以用来核查数据准确性或局地源影响。