Skip to main content
eScholarship
Open Access Publications from the University of California

UC Davis

UC Davis Previously Published Works bannerUC Davis

Estimating measurement uncertainty in an ambient sulfate trend

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of sampling and analytical error on time trends derived from routine monitoring. Our analysis is based on actual concentration differences observed among three long sulfate series recorded by collocated and independent measurements at Shenandoah National Park. Five-year sulfate trends at this location are shown to include a one-sigma uncertainty of about 1% year(-1) from measurement error alone. This is significantly more than would be estimated under naive statistical assumptions from the demonstrated precision of the measurements. The excess uncertainty arises from subtle trends in the errors themselves. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Many UC-authored scholarly publications are freely available on this site because of the UC's open access policies. Let us know how this access is important for you.

Main Content
For improved accessibility of PDF content, download the file to your device.
Current View