Identification of Statistically Homogeneous Soil Layers Using Modified Bartlett Statistics
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 129, Issue 7
Abstract
Stationarity or statistical homogeneity is an important prerequisite for subsequent statistical analysis on a given section of a soil profile to be valid. The estimation of important soil statistics such as the variance is likely to be biased if the profile is not properly demarcated into stationary sections. Existing classical statistical tests are inadequate even for simple identification of stationarity in the variance because the spatial variations of soil properties are generally correlated with each other. In this paper, a modified Bartlett statistical test is proposed to provide a more rational basis for rejecting the null hypothesis of stationarity in the correlated case. The accompanying rejection criteria are determined from simulated correlated sample functions and summarized into a convenient form for practical use. A statistical-based soil boundary identification procedure is then developed using the modified Bartlett test statistic. Based on the analysis of a piezocone sounding record, two advantages can be discerned. First, the proposed procedure provides a useful supplement to existing empirical soil classification charts, especially in situations where inherent variability tends to complicate interpretation of soil layers. Second, various key assumptions in geostatistical analysis such as stationarity and choice of trend function can be verified more rigorously using the framework of hypothesis testing.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 129 • Issue 7 • July 2003
Pages: 649 - 659
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 5, 2001
Accepted: Oct 20, 2002
Published online: Jun 13, 2003
Published in print: Jul 2003
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