Before a data set can be converted into a SADA file, it must adhere to the following requirements:
1. The data set must be in comma delimited text or in Microsoft Access.
2. The file must include at least four columns, in any order, that contain the analyte name, easting coordinate, northing coordinate, and sample value. If the data are taken over depth, an additional column with the depth value is required. No empty values are allowed for any of these columns, and non-numerical values are not permitted for any coordinate or sample value.
3. Columns containing CAS Numbers, Detect Qualifiers, Media Identification, and date are optional. Additional columns are accepted; however, the total number of columns may not exceed 250. CAS Numbers are accepted with or without dashes and without trailing or leading zero values. Valid detection qualifiers consist of only 0 and 1, non-detect and detect respectively. Proper media identification qualifiers are as follows: Soil – SO, Sediment – SD, Groundwater – GW, Surface water – SW, Air – AIR, Biota – BIO, and Background – Background. Proper date format is mm/dd/yy.
4. All columns must have a title row. Punctuation is not allowed in the title names.
5. If risk assessments are part of the analysis (either human health or ecological), then the concentration values are expected to be:
Soil, Sediment, and Biota: mg/kg for nonradionuclides, pCi/g for radionuclides
Surface/Groundwater: mg/L for nonradionuclides, pCi/L for radionuclides
In addition, a Media Identification column is required for setting up the human health risk or ecological risk modules.
6. Quotation marks are located only around items that contain a comma. SADA accepts quotations as field delimiters and may get fields out of order. For example, the value Sample located on "C" Street is accepted as three column values: Sample located, C, and Street. Conversely, Arsenic, Inorganic must be enclosed in quotes or SADA will read it as two field values: Arsenic and Inorganic. The proper way to store the field value is "Arsenic, Inorganic".
If your data set is an Access File, it is likely that SADA will have no problems with data requirements.