ASPAC | Pacific network of soil laboratories: 1st meeting. Brisbane, Australia, 17 - 18 October 2019.

1. 1

2. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Al B Cd Ca C Cl Co Cu Fe Pb Mg Mn Mo N P K Se Na S Zn
Median* Robust CV's over time
(*12 plants per year)
2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16

3. 3
A- Chromium reducible S
B- 1M KCl extractable S after peroxide oxidation
C- 4M HCl extractable S
D- 1M KCl extractable S
E- Titratable actual acidity
F- Titratable peroxide acidity.
G- Acid neutralizing capacity by back titration.

4. 4
The relationship between 1:5 soil/water pH grand median values (method 4A1) and final
robust grand median %CVs for exchangeable Al (method 15G1) for 11 soils (soil ASS34
excluded) used by ASPAC in 2008-09.
y = 27.84x-0.337
R² = 0.8892
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
0 5 10 15 20 25
% CV (Y) vs Exch Al (15G1)
2007-08

5. ACIAR Laboratory QA/QC
Workshop - HoChiMinh City
November, 2004
NRSL IND Laboratories - Printed: 11/10/04 - File: BIN_PBX.DAT
BIN_BICARB-P
Replicated results
X-bar: cl: 62.7679 ucl: 74.2287 lcl: 51.3071 * Rule violation
Subgrp Size 2
X-bar
cl
lwl
uwl
lcl
ucl
50
55
60
65
70
75
DATE: 4/7/02 19/08/02 23/10/02 7/4/03 26/6/03 14/10/03 12/2/04 15/7/04

6. ACIAR Laboratory QA/QC
Workshop - HoChiMinh City
November, 2004
NRSL IND Laboratories - Printed: 11/10/04 - File: BIN_PBX.DAT
BIN_BICARB-P
Replicated results
X-bar: cl: 62.7679 ucl: 74.2287 lcl: 51.3071 * Rule violation
Subgrp Size 2
X-bar
cl
lwl
uwl
lcl
ucl
50
60
70
80
DATE: 28/6/00 10/11/00 21/05/01 29/10/01 1/03/02 30/07/02 9/5/03 1/9/04

7. Take the UN out of UNCERTAINTY
In theory, if a valid estimate of uncertainty of
measurement has been made, a laboratory would have
95% confidence that the “true concentration” of an
analyte would fall inside the MU limits
ie. Xi (your result) ± U
ASPAC encourages laboratories, involved in the Soil Chek and
Plant Chek programs, to provide your estimates of uncertainty for
tests to Global Proficiency. They will provide back to you an
Uncertainty of Measurement Summary each round:
Ratings will be provided for each test based on the following:
• Good = the mean falls within 100% of a results uncertainty range
• Warning = the mean falls outside uncertainty of measurement (>100%) but
is less than 150%.
• Action = the mean falls outside 150% of uncertainty of measurement
(investigation recommended) eg outlier observed or uncertainty estimate
too narrow.

8. How ASPAC runs the proficiency programs – what we
ask and expect labs to do.
ASPAC provides proficiency samples that have already been dried, ground and
mixed thoroughly. They are sent to participants homogenous and tested to
demonstrate same.
For soils they have been air dried (equivalent to oven dried @ 40 deg C to
constant weight). They have been ground to <0.5 mm, which is finer than labs
should be preparing soils for empirical soil tests (ie < 2mm). Reason – hard to
provide a homogenous sample when particulate size is <2mm.
For the Soil Chek program, participants should analyse the soils as received. No
need for any more sample prep. For plants, we ask they be dried again @ 65 deg C
to constant weight.
A laboratory gets certification for a soil test when it demonstrates satisfactory
performance in the SoilChek program over a twelve month period (3 rounds x 4 soils
per round), bearing in mind the way the program is run and the protocols set by
ASPAC. Certification only lasts for 12 months.
To get the most out of SoilChek or PlantChek program, you will need to treat all
samples routinely where possible, and test by the standard procedures used in
the laboratory i.e. only conduct tests you routinely perform and only test in
duplicate if that is the normal test procedure.

9. ILPP’s run by ASPAC in 2016
9
• 50 tests certifiable
• depending on test, 10-52 labs provided results
• total of 59 labs (Aust. 41; NZ 7, PNG 2, Fiji 2, Thailand
2, Vietnam 2, Indonesia 1, Laos 1, Philippines 1)
• 21 tests certifiable
• depending on test, 7-35 labs provided results
• total of 39 labs (Aust. 27; NZ 7, PNG 2, Fiji 2, China 1)
Acid Sulfate Program
• 16 tests certifiable
• depending on test, 7-17 labs provided results
• total of 20 labs, all from Australia

10. ILPP’s run by ASPAC in 2018
10
• 50 tests certifiable
• depending on test, 10-52 labs provided results
• total of 68 labs (Aust. 50; NZ 7, PNG 2, Fiji 1, Thailand
2, Vietnam 1, Indonesia 1, Laos 1, Philippines 1, Samoa 1,
Guatemala 1)
• 21 tests certifiable
• depending on test, 7-35 labs provided results
• total of 45 labs (Aust. 36; NZ 6, PNG 1, Fiji 1, Guatemala 1)
Acid Sulfate Program
• 16 tests certifiable
• depending on test, 7-17 labs provided results
• total of 18 labs, all from Australia

11. Tribute to Brian Daly
Training laboratory technical staff was his passion and his contribution to the
South Pacific Analytical Chemistry Laboratory Network (Spacnet) and to ASPAC
soil and plant technician training workshops, over many years, was exemplary. He
was a very good friend to so many and will be sadly missed.
Some tributes paid by past Chairmen of ASPAC
“One of nature’s gentlemen” – Ken Peverill
“A warm, jolly and compassionate man” – Leigh Sparrow
“Brian was a pillar in the soil analysis community and was very highly regarded” –
Roger Hill
“I enjoyed his company and always held him in the highest regard professionally.
He was a great servant for ASPAC” – George Rayment