Conditional sampling techniques are used to create a method for examining the structure within airborne flux samples collected over the FIFE site. Isolating individual structures, linked to physical transport phenomena such as eddies or thermals, reveal that a few structures within each trace are responsible for most of the flux. A statistic given the name &psgr; was developed to classify the ''extremeness'' of the contribution to the flux fraction of these structures. An examination of the gamma intermittency parameter was also conducted using these techniques. It was concluded that if the objective of the gamma parameter is to measure the percentage of a flux trace occupied by a thermal, then a more restrictive definition of a thermal must be used. The establishment of such a definition is aided by quadrant analysis techniques. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1992