Presampling - Field Sampling: Principles and Practices in Environmental Analysis - page 51

3
Presampling
Before a physical sample is actually taken the whole sampling procedure and all required
equipment must be in hand and ready to use. For large projects a field office, laboratory,
and storage area must be in place and functioning at the field. The sampler or samplers to
be used must be at the field, along with the project notebook, the sampling plan or
diagram, maps of the area, and suitable containers for samples. The sample storage and
transport containers must be present and ready to use, along with chain of custody and
other forms. Plans for shipment and analysis must have already been discussed and
planned with the commercial laboratory doing the analysis. (See Chapter 10 for a more
complete description of this process.)
A minimal field office will include not only a building with two main rooms (office
and laboratory) and a washroom; a sample storage area separate from any of these areas
must also be available. Both the office and laboratory will need to be equipped (chairs,
desks, computers, etc. for the office, and laboratory benches and standard laboratory
equipment—e.g., balances, mixers, pH meters, and other meters or measuring devices
needed for the particular sampling situation). These will all need to be installed and
functioning before sampling begins.
Other tools to be used during the sampling will also need to be acquired. For instance,
if ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is to be used, the equipment and operators must be
contracted. Suitable GPS units, computer programs for statistical analysis, and
geographic information display (GIS) will also need to be purchased. Personnel will need
to be educated or trained in both the use of these tools and the interpretation of the data
produced. If inexperienced personnel will be sampling, they need some specific training
in proper sampling techniques. (See Chapter 11 for further discussion of personnel.)
3.1. FIELD OFFICE
A field office consisting of one or several buildings with electricity, phone service, and
running water will be set up at the field. This building is usually a trailer with one to three
rooms. One room will be for such things as the computer, phone, project notebook, and
chain of custody and other forms. Two phone lines are recommended because one will be
used for the modem in the computer. A second room will be set up as a small laboratory,
in which needed field analytical procedures can be carried out. This will be particularly
useful during transect sampling and for testing and analysis that needs to be
accomplished immediately. A bathroom for cleanup is essential, along with an outside
shower for situations in which sampling personnel become massively contaminated. It
will also be useful for washing off boots and equipment after sampling.
A separate building is needed for storing samples and another is needed for storing