Characterization of soil lead by comparing sequential Gaussian simulation,simulated annealing simulation and kriging methods

This study attempted to characterize the spatial patterns of lead (Pb) for further soil monitoring and remediation by comparing the sequential Gaussia n simulation, simulated annealing techniques and ordinary kriging methods t o delineate soil lead in a rice paddy field in the north of Changhua County , Taiwan. For reproducing the statistics of Pb and natural log Pb (ln(Pb)), simulation techniques yielded better results than ordinary kriging. Meanwh ile, sequential Gaussian simulation and simulated annealing reproduced the spatial variation of the measured Pb and ln(Pb), as well as identified the global spatial continuity and discontinuity patterns. Furthermore, the simu lated annealing method equaled the global measurement statistics and spatia l patterns of Pb and ln(Pb) more so than sequential Gaussian simulation and kriging. Finally, the realizations generated by sequential Gaussian simula tion displayed significantly higher local heterogeneity than those generate d by simulated annealing. The realizations of simulated annealing simulatio n are consistent in presenting the spatial patterns of soil Pb.