3. Going from the laboratory to the field: requirements for instrumentation
Turl and Wood have discussed the efforts made to develop analytical equipment for field operations WORKING in real-life operational environments and the uncontrollable factors that can impact their effectiveness and usability [2]. The following discussion is based largely on their treatise. It is obvious that sophisticated and effective instruments and methods that are proven in the laboratory can suffer from degraded performance, or even failure, when set up in harsh conditions. Turl and Woods list many specific technical challenges that should be considered during the design and development phases of the instrument meant TO WORK in demanding or harsh environments. They are the following: