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ProUCL Software

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Statistical Software ProUCL 5.1.00 for Environmental Applications for Data Sets with and without Nondetect Observations

Related Information

ProUCL version 5.1.002 (5.1) is the latest update of the ProUCL statistical software package for analysis of environmental data sets with and without nondetect (ND) observations. ProUCL version 5.1 is a comprehensive statistical software package with statistical methods and graphical tools to address many environmental sampling and statistical issues.  Version 5.1 is a general update to version 5.0 to correct all known bugs, crashes, and unhandled exceptions (e.g., on bad data sets). In ProUCL 5.1, some enhancements have been made in the Trend Analysis option of the Statistical Test module. ProUCL 5.1 computes and outputs residuals for the non-parametric T-S trend line which may be helpful to compute a prediction band around the T-S trend line. In addition to generating Q-Q plots based upon detected observations, the Goodness of Fit Tests (GoF) option of the Statistical Tests module of ProUCL 5.1 generates censored probability plots for data sets with NDs. Some changes have been made in the decision table used to make suggestions for UCL selection based upon a gamma distribution.

Updated Operating Systems: ProUCL 5.1 is compatible with Microsoft Office 8.0 and represents an upgrade of all previous versions of ProUCL. ProUCL 5.1 has been developed in Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 using the C# programming language. To provide Excel-compatible Spreadsheet functionality, ProUCL uses FarPoint Spread 5 for .NET; and for graphics, ProUCL uses the development software package, ChartFx 7. ProUCL 5.1 is an update to version 5.0 to address some specific ease of use comments received.  The look and feel of ProUCL 5.0 was quite different from its previous versions; all main menu options had been re-arranged. Most of the statistical tests and methods (e.g., Outlier tests, Goodness-of-fit tests, Single and Two-Sample hypothesis tests, Oneway ANOVA, OLS regression, and Trend Analysis) are now available under the Statistical Tests module. New licensing agreements were obtained for the development softwares: FarPoint and ChartFx. 

UCLs/EPCs and Upper Limits/BTVs modules enhancements: An upper simultaneous limit (USL), is incorporated in ProUCL 5.1. For data sets with NDs, ProUCL 5.1 computes upper confidence limits (UCLs), upper prediction and tolerance limits (UPLs, UTLs), and USLs which adjust for data skewness. For data sets with NDs, ProUCL 5.1 computes upper limits using KM estimates in gamma (normal, lognormal or nonparametric) UCL, UPL, and UTL equations provided the detected observations follow a gamma (normal, lognormal or nonparametric) distribution. The graphical methods include histograms, multiple quantile-quantile (Q-Q) plots, and side-by-side box plots. The Dixon and Rosner outlier tests and Goodness-of-Fit (GOF) tests for normal, lognormal, and gamma distributions can be used on data sets with and without NDs. Single-sample hypothesis tests include: t-test, Sign, Wilcoxon Signed Rank, and proportion tests; and two- sample tests include: t-test, Wilcoxon Rank Sum (WRS) test, Gehan, and Tarone-Ware (new in ProUCL 5.0/ 5.1) tests, and the new statistic, an upper simultaneous limit (USL) incorporated into ProUCL can compute parametric (e.g., normal, gamma, lognormal) and nonparametric (e.g., bootstrap, Chebyshev inequality, and Central Limit Theorem) statistics including UCLs of mean, upper percentiles, UPLs for future k (≥1) observations, UTLs, and USLs. The Trend Module performs Mann-Kendall and Theil-Sen tests on time-series data sets with missing values and generates trend line graphs displaying OLS and Theil-Sen trend lines. The Time Series Plot option is useful to compare multiple time-series data sets. The Sample Sizes module is used to develop data quality objectives (DQOs) based sampling designs and power evaluations needed to address statistical issues associated with the various site projects. ProUCL 5.1 can process multiple variables simultaneously by a group variable to perform the various tests (e.g., ANOVA, GOF, and trend tests) and compute decision statistics including UCLs, UPLs, UTLs, and USLs.

User and Technical Guide Updates: Both guides have been updated to include all recent changes to the program and to be more user friendly and informative.

References

Interstate Technology Regulatory Council (ITRC). 2012. Incremental Sampling Methodology. Technical and Regulatory Guidance, 2012.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 1989a. Methods for Evaluating the Attainment of Cleanup Standards, Vol. 1, Soils and Solid Media. Publication EPA/230/2-89/042.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 1992. Statistical Analysis of Ground-water Monitoring Data at RCRA Facilities. Addendum to Interim Final Guidance. Washington DC: Office of Solid Waste. July 1992.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 1994. Statistical Methods for Evaluating the Attainment of Cleanup Standards, EPA 230-R-94-004, Washington, DC.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2000. U.S.

Singh, A.K., Singh, A., and Engelhardt, M. 1997. The Lognormal Distribution in Environmental Applications. Technology Support Center Issue Paper, 182CMB97. EPA/600/R-97/006, December 1997.

Singh, A., Singh, A.K., and Iaci, R.J. 2002. Estimation of the Exposure Point Concentration Term Using a Gamma Distribution, EPA/600/R-02/084, October 2002.

Singh, A. and Nocerino, J.M. 2002. Robust Estimation of Mean and Variance Using Environmental Data Sets with Below Detection Limit Observations. Vol. 60, pp. 69-86.

Singh, A., Maichle, R., and Lee, S. 2006. On the Computation of a 95% Upper Confidence Limit of the Unknown Population Mean Based Upon Data Sets with Below Detection Limit Observations. EPA/600/R-06/022, March 2006.

Contact Information for ProUCL

The ProUCL software is developed under the direction of the Technical Support Center (TSC). As of November 2007, the direction of the TSC was transferred from Brian Schumacher to Felicia Barnett. Therefore, any comments or questions concerning ProUCL should be addressed to:

Felicia Barnett (STL)
US EPA, Region 4
61 Forsyth Street, S.W.
Atlanta, GA 30303-8960
barnett.felicia@epa.gov
(404) 562-8659 phone
(404) 562-8439 fax

Installation Instructions:

{ Using Winzip (or equivalent, e.g., EasyZip) to unzip files}

  1. Download and save SETUP.zip to any directory. Note: You can delete this file when the installation is complete if desired and always re-download the latest version of ProUCL 5.1 from this website.

  2. Run SETUP.zip Double-Click on SETUP.zip or using Run option (Start gets you to that option), browse to the directory setup.zip was saved to and run it by finding it using the "all files" (not Programs) choices of files to open.

  3. Unzip and install from SETUP.zip to a Root Directory or Folder where you wish to install ProUCL 5.1. This will create a directory named ProUCL 5.1; add all the necessary files; create two subdirectories, adding sample data to one and documentation to the other.

  4. You can create a shortcut by dragging the program (ProUCL.exe) to where you want the shortcut.

  5. Run ProUCL 5.1 by double clicking the program or the shortcut if you created one (You can now delete the file SETUP.exe if desired).

Minimum Hardware Requirements

  • Intel Pentium 1.0 GHz
  • 45 MB of hard drive space
  • 512 MB of memory (RAM)
  • CD-ROM drive or internet connection
  • Windows XP (with SP3), Vista (with SP1 or later), and Windows 7

ProUCL 5.1.00 will function but some titles and some Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) will need to be scrolled. Definition without color will be marginal.

  • Minimum graphics display of 800 by 600 pixels
  • Basic Color is preferred

Software Requirements

ProUCL 5.1.00 has been developed in the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 using the C# programming language. To properly run ProUCL 5.1.00 software, the computer using the program must have the .NET Framework 4.0 pre-installed. The downloadable .NET Framework 4.0 files can be obtained from one of the following websites: