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Environmental Protection AgencyProUCL OVERVIEW

 

 

ProUCL estimates the 95 percent upper confidence limit (UCL) of an unknown population mean of environmental data sets. ProUCL also provides distribution testing capabilities. ProUCL is designed to summarize and graph simple statistical analysis and may be used on a number of different media.

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Functions

�� Statistical Analysis

 

 

Input

�� Tabular File: *.xls,*.txt, 123, wk?

�� Graphical File: N/A

Output
  • Tabular File: *.xls
  • Graphical File: *.vtc, *.wmf, *.bmp, *.jpg

Contaminants
  • Metals
  • Chlorinated Solvents
  • SVOCs
  • Pesticides/PCBs
  • Petroleum
  • Radionuclide

Media
  • Soil Sediment
  • Soil Gas
  • Air
  • Surface Water
  • Groundwater

Technical Team Members
  • Risk Assessor
  • Statistician

Comments

 

 

ProUCL - data loading

• Data are loaded by selecting the File:Open option from the menu bar and then entering a file name or using the browser window to find the file. (Note: the file must be either Excel, delimited text, or Lotus file format.) This process is easy; however, large data sets should be parsed in MS Access because excess data may crash the program. (A spreadsheet that contained 25 columns and 305 rows repeatedly caused the program to crash. This issue was resolved by filtering the data so that only one variable occupying one column was uploaded.)

• A new dataset may also be entered manually by selecting the File:New option.

 

ProUCL - graphic loading

• Not applicable.

 

ProUCL - logical flow

• The program is self-explanatory; all options are located on the menu bar. The graphing function is also user-friendly: data and graph/chart type can be changed and manipulated by right clicking in the graph; any user that can graph or chart with Excel can graph or chart in ProUCL..

• The Help function addresses only the most general program functions, such as printing and saving files. The Help function does not address technical issues or functions that are specific to ProUCL.

 

ProUCL - expert knowledge

• User should have a sound understanding of statistical analysis and understand the proper use of statistics to achieve the project goals.

• ProUCL is designed to address a critical need, yet one that is narrow in its scope. ProUCL estimates the 95 percent upper confidence limit (UCL) of an unknown population mean and provides some capabilities in distribution testing. ProUCL uses several methods to compute the UCL and gives the user much additional information (e.g., gamma UCL, Land's H-UCL; p. 79-80 of the User guide). ProUCL does not evaluate spatial statistics.

 

ProUCL - functionality

• The program exhibited a few glitches. More complex data sets cause the program to crash, or a "please wait" message would appear and the program apparently would freeze.

• The program is straightforward and is simple to save and print graphs and charts as well as the statistical summaries.

 

ProUCL - documentation

• A manual is downloaded with the tool kit and provides useful information how to use the program. Most environmental professionals should be able to use the program in conjunction with the manual to obtain statistical summaries and UCLs.

 

ProUCL - output

• The outputs are in Excel formats. Saving and printing both spreadsheets and graphs and charts are simple and user friendly.

• The program user's guide is downloaded with the program and is easy to follow. If the user's goal is to run statistical analysis on univariate data sets, this program is simple, quick, and user friendly. One obvious limitation is that it does not evaluate multivariate statistics.

 

ProUCL - sources

• ProUCL, Version 3.0, downloaded October 17, 2006. Developer notes that Version 4.0 will be released later in 2007.

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