Interpretation of Geological, Hydrogeological, and Geochemical Results

Abstract

Almost all data obtained in geoscientific investigations need some kind of statistical treatment for interpretation, as well as for the assessment of reliability and errors. The following statistical methods are frequently used to analyze data sets: • univariate analysis, i.e., analysis of an individual parameter (e.g., concentration of a substance, pH, or electrical conductivity at several locations), • multivariate analysis, i.e., analysis of several parameters together, to determine the relationship between parameters (e.g., the relationship between concentrations of different substances and/or of several environmental parameters), and • time series analysis (e.g., analysis of a parameter as a function of time, for example, monitoring of water level or the concentration of a substance in a groundwater observation well).