Instrumentation
Equipment catalogue
The instrument types used across our services, grouped by domain, with what each measures and why the method calls for it. Exact models are confirmed at scoping against the method your permit conditions name.
Instrument
What it measures
Why it is used
- Typical range
- PM10 or PM2.5 inlet at 2.3 m³/h, 24-hour filter runs
- Standard
- EN 12341; US EPA reference method
- Deployment
- Boundary and receptor stations, one filter per day
Reference gravimetric particulate sampler
PM10 and PM2.5 by filter weighing
The reference method most ambient conditions are written against.
- Typical range
- 0 – 10,000 µg/m³, hourly or finer averages
- Standard
- EN 16450; US EPA equivalent method
- Deployment
- Fixed or mobile station for campaigns of weeks to months
Continuous particulate analyser
PM10, PM2.5, TSP, real time
Beta attenuation or optical, for campaigns needing a time series rather than a daily average.
- Typical range
- Ambient ppb ranges, 1-minute data
- Standard
- EN 14211, EN 14212, EN 14625, EN 14626
- Deployment
- Air-conditioned station with daily automatic zero and span checks
Gas analyser set
NO₂, SO₂, CO, O₃
Chemiluminescence, UV fluorescence, NDIR and UV photometry, one technique per determinand.
- Typical range
- Sub-ppb to ppm, over 1 to 24 hours
- Standard
- US EPA TO-15 (canisters), ISO 16017 (sorbent tubes)
- Deployment
- Boundary, receptor and indoor sampling, analysed in the laboratory
VOC sampling train
Volatile organic compounds
Sorbent tubes or canisters, transferred to the laboratory for thermal desorption and analysis.
- Typical range
- Stack velocity 3 – 30 m/s, flue gas up to about 500 °C
- Standard
- US EPA Methods 1 – 5; ISO 9096; EN 13284-1
- Deployment
- Sampling ports on stacks and ducts, run as a formal test
Isokinetic stack sampling train
Point source emissions
Sampling at the flue gas velocity, with pitot tube and thermocouple, so the sample represents the stack.
- Typical range
- O₂, CO, NO, NO₂, SO₂, CO₂; flue gas up to about 1,000 °C
- Standard
- EN 50379
- Deployment
- Burner tuning, screening and process checks
Portable flue gas analyser
Combustion gases at the stack
For screening and process checks alongside the formal isokinetic run.
- Typical range
- Deposited dust in mg/m² per day, 30-day exposure
- Standard
- BS 1747; ASTM D1739
- Deployment
- Four directions around a complaint or a known source
Directional dust deposition gauge
Nuisance and deposited dust
Used where a complaint has been raised and the source direction is in question.
- Typical range
- Wind 0 – 60 m/s, temperature −40 to +60 °C, 1-minute logging
- Standard
- WMO siting guidance
- Deployment
- Co-located with air and noise monitoring
Automatic weather station
Wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, pressure, rainfall
Results without wind and weather context are difficult to defend, so both are captured together.
Instrument
What it measures
Why it is used
- Typical range
- 20 – 140 dB(A), 1/1 and 1/3 octave bands
- Standard
- IEC 61672-1 Class 1
- Deployment
- Boundary and receptor surveys, tripod at 1.2 – 1.5 m
Class 1 integrating sound level meter
L₀ₑ, Lₐₐₐ, Lₓ₋ₐ₀ and percentile indices
Class 1 to IEC 61672 is what regulatory submissions are normally expected to use.
- Typical range
- 94 and 114 dB at 1 kHz
- Standard
- IEC 60942 Class 1
- Deployment
- Before and after every measurement
Acoustic calibrator
Field calibration check
Verified before and after every survey, because an uncalibrated dataset cannot be defended.
- Typical range
- Continuous logging for days to weeks
- Standard
- IEC 61672-1 Class 1; ISO 1996-2
- Deployment
- Unattended, in a weatherproof case with an outdoor microphone
Unattended noise logger
Continuous day, evening and night periods
Deployed where a representative survey has to cover each period rather than a single visit.
- Typical range
- Daily personal exposure and peak sound level
- Standard
- IEC 61252; ISO 9612
- Deployment
- Worn on the shoulder for a full shift
Personal noise dosimeter
Occupational exposure over a shift
A separate obligation from boundary noise, covering the workforce inside the fence.
- Typical range
- Peak particle velocity up to about 250 mm/s, airblast to about 150 dB
- Standard
- DIN 4150-3; BS 7385-2
- Deployment
- At the nearest sensitive structure during blasting or piling
Triaxial vibration monitor
Peak particle velocity and airblast
For blasting and piling near communities or sensitive structures.
Instrument
What it measures
Why it is used
- Typical range
- pH 0 – 14, dissolved oxygen 0 – 20 mg/L, conductivity 0 – 100 mS/cm
- Standard
- APHA Standard Methods; ISO 5667 sampling
- Deployment
- In-situ profiling or continuous logging at discharge points
Multiparameter sonde
pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, temperature, turbidity, redox
Several of these change between the sampling point and the laboratory, so they are read in situ.
- Typical range
- 0 – 1,000 NTU
- Standard
- ISO 7027
- Deployment
- Discharge points and receiving water, measured on site
Nephelometric turbidity meter
Suspended solids indication
Used at discharge points and in receiving water where a visual assessment is not enough.
- Typical range
- Level to ±1 mm, velocity 0 – 6 m/s
- Standard
- ISO 4359 (flumes); ISO 1438 (weirs)
- Deployment
- Open channels, flumes and partly full pipes
Open channel and ultrasonic flow meter
Discharge rate and volume
Needed wherever the consent limit is load based rather than concentration based.
- Typical range
- Up to 24 bottles, time or flow proportional
- Standard
- ISO 5667-10
- Deployment
- Unattended at outfalls over 24 hours or longer
Automatic composite sampler
Flow or time proportional samples
A grab sample captures one moment; a composite blends across a period or across flow.
- Typical range
- Water level to about 1 mm, floating product thickness
- Standard
- ASTM D4750
- Deployment
- Monitoring wells and boreholes
Groundwater level dipper and interface probe
Standing water level, product thickness
Standard for monitoring wells, including where separate phase product may be present.
- Typical range
- Purge rates of about 0.1 – 0.5 L/min
- Standard
- ISO 5667-11; US EPA low-flow procedure
- Deployment
- Monitoring wells, sampled once field readings are stable
Low flow purge pump
Representative groundwater sampling
Purging at low rate avoids drawing in water that does not represent the formation.
- Typical range
- Held at 4 °C ± 2 °C with the right preservative
- Standard
- ISO 5667-3
- Deployment
- From the sampling point to the accredited laboratory
Chain of custody transport kit
Sample integrity
Insulated boxes, preservation and documented transfer, since holding times are part of the method.
Instrument
What it measures
Why it is used
- Typical range
- Shallow profiles to about 3 – 5 m
- Standard
- ISO 18400-102; BS 5930
- Deployment
- Tight access and shallow investigation
Hand auger and window sampler
Shallow soil profiles
For shallow investigation and where access will not take a rig.
- Typical range
- Samples at depth in 450 – 600 mm runs
- Standard
- ASTM D1586; ISO 22475-1
- Deployment
- Borehole programmes with a drilling rig
Split spoon and core sampler
Undisturbed samples at depth
Recovered through a borehole programme sized to the ground risk.
- Typical range
- 0.1 – 5,000 ppm volatile organics
- Standard
- Field screening only, not a reporting method
- Deployment
- Headspace screening of soil samples
Photoionisation detector
Volatile screening in the field
Screening only, used to direct where formal samples are taken rather than to report a number.
- Typical range
- Surface sediment, sample area about 250 – 1,000 cm²
- Standard
- ISO 5667-19
- Deployment
- From a vessel in marine and freshwater bodies
Sediment grab
Bed sediment from water bodies
Van Veen or Ekman pattern, for marine and freshwater sediment characterisation.
- Typical range
- Particle sizes from 63 µm to 63 mm
- Standard
- ASTM D6913; BS 1377-2
- Deployment
- Laboratory classification of soils and sediments
Test sieve stack and shaker
Particle size distribution
Laboratory classification of soils and sediments.
- Typical range
- Drying at 105 °C, balance readability 0.1 mg
- Standard
- ASTM D2216; ISO 11465
- Deployment
- Moisture content and gravimetric preparation
Drying oven and analytical balance
Moisture content, gravimetric preparation
Sample preparation ahead of analysis.
Instrument
What it measures
Why it is used
- Typical range
- Several readings a second through the full water column
- Standard
- UNESCO practical salinity scale
- Deployment
- Lowered through the water column from a vessel
CTD profiler
Conductivity, temperature, depth through the column
Establishes stratification and salinity structure, which discharge assessment depends on.
- Typical range
- Current speed and direction for each depth cell
- Standard
- Current data prepared as hydrodynamic model input
- Deployment
- Seabed-mounted or vessel-mounted
Acoustic Doppler current profiler
Current speed and direction by depth
Provides the current data a hydrodynamic model needs as input.
- Typical range
- Seabed depth at centimetre-level resolution
- Standard
- IHO S-44
- Deployment
- Vessel-mounted with positioning and motion correction
Single and multibeam echo sounder
Seabed elevation, bathymetry
High accuracy mapping for dredging, navigation and coastal planning.
- Typical range
- Photo quadrats of 0.25 – 1 m²
- Standard
- Standard benthic transect and quadrat methods
- Deployment
- Coral, seagrass and benthic habitat mapping by divers
Underwater survey camera and quadrats
Habitat extent and condition
For coral, seagrass and benthic habitat mapping.
- Typical range
- Water level to about 1 cm, wave height and period
- Standard
- IOC tide gauge guidance
- Deployment
- Deployed for weeks to months at coastal sites
Tide gauge and wave recorder
Water levels, wave height and period
Field investigations supporting coastal development and marine infrastructure.
Instrument
What it measures
Why it is used
- Typical range
- Organic compounds at ppb level
- Standard
- US EPA 8260 and 8270
- Deployment
- Hydrocarbons, VOCs and semi-volatiles in water, soil and air
Gas chromatograph with mass spectrometer
Volatile and semi-volatile organics
Identification and quantification for hydrocarbon and VOC determinands.
- Typical range
- µg/L (optical emission) to ng/L (mass spectrometry)
- Standard
- US EPA 200.7, 200.8, 6010 and 6020
- Deployment
- Heavy metals in water, soil, sediment and waste
Inductively coupled plasma spectrometer
Heavy metals and trace elements
Optical emission or mass spectrometry depending on the detection limit required.
- Typical range
- Anions and cations from mg/L to µg/L
- Standard
- ISO 10304-1; US EPA 300.0
- Deployment
- Chloride, sulphate, nitrate, fluoride and related ions
Ion chromatograph
Anions and cations
Chloride, sulphate, nitrate and related determinands in water and leachate.
- Typical range
- 190 – 1,100 nm
- Standard
- APHA Standard Methods
- Deployment
- Nutrients and colorimetric water quality tests
UV-visible spectrophotometer
Colorimetric determinands
Established methods for nutrients and a range of water quality parameters.
- Typical range
- BOD over 5 days at 20 °C; COD digestion at 150 °C for 2 hours
- Standard
- APHA 5210 B; ISO 15705
- Deployment
- Oxygen demand in wastewater and effluent
BOD incubator and COD digester
Oxygen demand
BOD takes five days by definition, which is why it sets the reporting schedule.
- Typical range
- Up to about 1,100 °C
- Standard
- ASTM D2974; EN 15935
- Deployment
- Loss on ignition and ash content
Muffle furnace
Loss on ignition, organic content
Thermal preparation and organic matter determination.
- Typical range
- 100 mL membrane filtration, incubation at 35 – 44 °C
- Standard
- ISO 9308-1; APHA 9222
- Deployment
- Coliforms and E.coli in potable and amenity water
Microbiological incubator and filtration set
Indicator organisms
For potable and amenity water against health based standards.
Instrument
What it measures
Why it is used
- Typical range
- Near field to about 50 km (AERMOD); regional to about 300 km (CALPUFF)
- Standard
- US EPA Guideline on Air Quality Models (Appendix W)
- Deployment
- Stack and fugitive sources, run with a year of hourly meteorology
AERMOD and CALPUFF
Atmospheric dispersion
Predicting ground level concentrations from stack and fugitive sources.
- Typical range
- Near-field mixing zone to far-field coastal circulation
- Standard
- Mixing-zone assessment against the discharge permit
- Deployment
- Desalination brine, cooling water and effluent outfalls
DHI-MIKE and CORMIX
Hydrodynamics and discharge mixing
Thermal and saline plume behaviour, circulation and near field mixing.
- Typical range
- Catchment rainfall-runoff through to river and wadi hydraulics
- Standard
- HEC hydrologic and hydraulic methods
- Deployment
- Flood risk, drainage design and wadi crossings
HEC-RAS, HEC-HMS and WMS
Watershed hydrology and hydraulics
Flood routing, runoff and drainage design support.
- Typical range
- Site to regional aquifer scale, steady or time-varying
- Standard
- USGS finite-difference groundwater model
- Deployment
- Dewatering, abstraction impact and contaminant transport
MODFLOW
Groundwater flow and quality
Aquifer behaviour and contaminant transport.
- Typical range
- Industrial, road and construction noise at receptors
- Standard
- ISO 9613-2 outdoor sound propagation
- Deployment
- Predicting noise before a facility is built or expanded
SoundPlan
Noise propagation
Predicting noise at receptors before a facility is built or expanded.