Statistical software aids government agencies and industry.

The detection of contaminants and dangerous materials often hinges on the quality of the samples gathered for analysis. The Department of Energy's (DOE's) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has issued a new version of a software program, Visual Sample Plan (VSP), which enables users to develop optimal strategies for sampling contaminants in soil, sediments, and water, as well as on building surfaces, and can even help determine the most probable locations of unexploded bombs, mortars, and grenades on former practice ranges. Users of VSP include government agencies such as the department of Homeland Security (DHS), DOE, the Department of Defense, and U.S. EPA, as well as industry.

VSP is planning software that helps decision makers determine the number and location of samples that need to be taken to ensure confident, statistics-based decisions. The statistical-planning software supplements a widely accepted and often prescribed decision model known as Data Quality Objectives.

PNNL researchers released the first version of VSP, sponsored primarily by DOE and U.S. EPA, in May 2001 in response to the need of clients and private industry for statistical algorithms in the event of contamination releases.

Since November 2003, PNNL has been funded by DHS, through the Technical Support Working Group, with technical support from DHS and U.S. EPA, to adapt the existing VSP software to help plan actions in case of a chemical, biological, or radioactive release in a building. DHS and EPA need to be able to quickly identify and determine the magnitude and extent of contamination and then guide the decontamination efforts. The software identifies locations and the number of samples necessary to confidently determine if a building is free of contamination and safe for occupancy.

PNNL is now in the second phase of the project, which includes development of a VSP module for sampling within a building.

A copy of the free software can be downloaded at http://dqo.pnl.gov/vsp. PNNL also offers training courses for software users, of which there are more than 4,000 nationally and internationally.