MINIMUM VARIANCE LINEAR UNBIASED ESTIMATORS OF LOSS AND INVENTORY.

The article illustrates a number of approaches for estimating the material balance inventory and a constant loss amount from the accountability data from a sequence of accountability periods. The approaches all lead to linear estimates that have minimum variance. Techniques are shown whereby ordinary least squares, weighted least squares and generalized least squares computer programs can be used. Two approaches are recursive in nature and lend themselves to small specialized computer programs. Another approach is developed that is easy to program; could be used with a desk calculator and can be used in a recursive way from accountability period to accountability period. Some previous results are also reviewed that are very similar in approach to the present ones and vary only in the way net throughput measurements are statistically modeled.