Designation:D6582–00(Reapproved2005)´1StandardGuideforRankedSetSampling:EfficientEstimationofaMeanConcentrationinEnvironmentalSampling1ThisstandardisissuedunderthefixeddesignationD6582;thenumberimmediatelyfollowingthedesignationindicatestheyearoforiginaladoptionor,inthecaseofrevision,theyearoflastrevision.Anumberinparenthesesindicatestheyearoflastreapproval.Asuperscriptepsilon(´)indicatesaneditorialchangesincethelastrevisionorreapproval.´1NOTE—Editorialchangesweremadein5.1,5.12.7andTable2inAugust2006.1.Scope1.1Thisguidedescribesrankedsetsampling,discussesitsrelativeadvantagesoversimplerandomsampling,andpro-videsexamplesofpotentialapplicationsinenvironmentalsampling.1.2Rankedsetsamplingisusefulandcost-effectivewhenthereisanauxiliaryvariable,whichcanbeinexpensivelymeasuredrelativetotheprimaryvariable,andwhentheauxiliaryvariablehascorrelationwiththeprimaryvariable.Theresultantestimationofthemeanconcentrationisunbiased,moreprecisethansimplerandomsampling,andmorerepre-sentativeofthepopulationunderawidevarietyofconditions.1.3Thisstandarddoesnotpurporttoaddressallofthesafetyconcerns,ifany,associatedwithitsuse.Itistheresponsibilityoftheuserofthisstandardtoestablishappro-priatesafetyandhealthpracticesanddeterminetheapplica-bilityofregulatorylimitationspriortouse.2.ReferencedDocuments2.1ASTMStandards:2D5792PracticeforGenerationofEnvironmentalDataRe-latedtoWasteManagementActivities:DevelopmentofDataQualityObjectivesD6044GuideforRepresentativeSamplingforManagementofWasteandContaminatedMedia3.Terminology3.1Definitions:3.1.1auxiliaryvariable,n—thesecondarycharacteristicormeasurementofinterest.3.1.1.1Discussion—Inrankedsetsampling,informationcontainedinanauxiliaryvariableisusefulforrankingthesamples.Thisrankingmaymimictherankingsofthesampleswithrespecttothevaluesoftheprimaryvariablewhenthereiscorrelationbetweentheauxiliaryvariableandtheprimaryvariable.Auxiliaryinformationmayincludevisualinspection,inexpensivequickmeasurement,knowledgeofoperationalhistory,previoussitedata...
