Soil sampling methodology

Tlo je površinski sloj zemljine kore koji se sastoji od mineralnih čestica, organske tvari, vode, zraka i živih organizama. Tlo se dijeli na koherentna i nekoherentna tla. Nekoherentna tla ili krupnozrna tla, sastavljena su od krupnih zrna gdje je više od 50 % mase ili težine čvrstih čestica veličine šljunka ili pijeska. Takve su čestice uglavnom vidljive golim okom te su kohezijske sile između čvrstih čestica zanemarive. S obzirom na veličinu zastupljenih zrna, nekoherentna tla dijele se na šljunak i pijesak. Koherentna tla ili sitnozrna tla, sastavljena su od sitnih zrna gdje je više od 50 % mase ili težine čvrstih čestica veličine gline ili pijeska. Čestice nisu vidljive golim okom, a s obzirom na veličinu zastupljenih zrna, koherentna tla dijele se na prahove, gline, organske gline i tresete. Uzorkovanje tla je postupak uzimanja uzorka za daljnje analize s ciljem dobivanja važnih informacija o tlu. Analiza uzoraka tla provodi se pomoću kemijskih i fizikalnih analiza, a za precizne rezultate potrebno je koristiti odgovarajuću metodologiju uzorkovanja. Uzorak koji će se analizirati mora biti reprezentativan i predstavljati cjelinu iz koje se uzima. Pravilno uzorkovanje je zahtjevan analitički postupak pri čemu je nužno definirati svrhu i cilj uzorkovanja, pažljivo definirati mjesto i vrijeme uzimanja uzorka, način uzimanja uzorka, dubinu te niz drugih postupaka važnih za proces uzorkovanja.Soil is surface layer of the earth's crust consisting of mineral particles, organic matter, water, air and living organisms. Soils can be coherent and incoherent. Incoherent soils, or coarse-grained soils, are composed of coarse grains where more than 50% of weight or weight of solid particles is the size of gravel or sand. These particles are mostly visible to the naked eye and the cohesion forces between them are negligible. Based on the size of grains incoherent soils consist of, they can be divided into gravel and sand. Coherent soils, or fine-grained soils, are composed of fine grains where more than 50% of weight or weight of solid particles is the size of clay or sand. These particles are not visible to the naked eye and based on the size of grains coherent soils consist of they can be divided into powders, clays, organic clays, and peat. Soil sampling is the process of taking a sample for further analysis in order to obtain important information about soil. The analysis of soil samples is performed using chemical and physical analyzes, and for accurate results it is necessary to use an appropriate sampling methodology. In order for a soil sample to be analyzed it has to be representative. Proper sampling is a demanding analytical procedure where it is necessary to define the purpose and goal of sampling. Also, the place and time of sampling have to be carefully defined as well as a sampling method, depth and a number of other procedures which are important for the sampling process