VISUALISATION OF SOIL CONTAMINATION UTILISING BASIC MAPPING SOFTWARE

As the demand for urban space increases more sites once deemed unsuitable will have to be considered these sites come with increased risk from contaminates which pose a threat to human health. These sites are strictly regulated by national and local authorities who are increasingly asking for site investigation reports with greater detail. This poses engineers and environmental consultants a significant problem, currently there is no cost effective and accurate methods for modelling contaminate distribution in soil.

This research looks to modifying available mapping software to produce a cost effective and accurate solution to the problem. The research produced a specially designed spreadsheet which is compatible with most mapping software packages. The spreadsheet utilises the traditional Kriging gridding method in conjunction with contaminate data which allows the production of a contour map depicting the contaminate distribution in the soil in both the horizontal and vertical axis.

The software only produces extrapolations from the data inputted to test the accuracy of the method actual data from contaminated sites from around Scotland was inputted, the data for the individual sites came from Millard Consulting a prominent environmental consultancy specialising in contaminated land. The method allowed the consultants a greater insight into the contamination of the soil allowing them to produce some of the most accurate reports in Scotland today. The method was then tested on a far larger scale 9km² area of Dundee was sampled using standard sampling methods the data was then inputted into the software which produced multiple contour plots. The plots discovered areas of contamination which are linked to a Municipal Waste Incinerator and battery factory. These areas where then sampled and the soil was tested using flame atomic spectrometry the results backed the software’s extrapolation. The extrapolation deviated only 5-10mg/kg from the actual contaminate level. The research showed that the software produced very accurate outputs, there is a >90% chance of discovering contamination while using this software.

This method allow consultancies the option to accurately model ground contamination without purchasing extremely expensive software