Radon in atmospheric studies: a review

Conference · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6944237

Wilkening, M

The distribution of the isotopes of radon in space and time, their physical characteristics, and their behavior in the dynamics of the atmosphere have presented challenges for many decades. /sup 220/Rn, /sup 222/Rn and their daughters furnish a unique set of tracers for the study of transport and mixing processes in the atmosphere. Appropriate applications of turbulent diffusion theory yield general agreement with measured profiles. Diurnal and seasonal variations follow patterns set by consideration of atmospheric stability. /sup 222/Rn has been used successfully in recent studies of nocturnal drainage winds and cumulus convection. Good results have been obtained using /sup 222/Rn and its long-lived /sup 210/Pb daughter as tracers in the study of continent-to-ocean and ocean-to-continent air mass trajectories, /sup 220/Rn (thoron) because of its short half-life of only 55 seconds has been used to measure turbulent diffusion within the first few meters of the earth's surface and to study the influence of meteorological variables on the rate of exhalation from the ground. Radon daughters attach readily to atmospheric particulate matter which makes it possible to study these aerosols with respect to size spectra, attachment characteristics, removal by gravitation and precipitation, and residence times in the troposphere. The importance of ionization by radon and its daughters in the lower atmosphere and its effect on atmospheric electrical parameters is well known. Knowledge of the mobility and other characteristics of radon daughter ions has led to applications in the study of atmospheric electrical environments under fair weather and thunderstorm conditions and in the formation of condensation nuclei. The availability of increasingly sophisticated analytical tools and atmospheric measurement systems can be expected to add much to our understanding of radon and its daughters as trace components of the atmospheric environment in the years ahead.

• Research Organization: New Mexico Inst. of Mining and Technology, Socorro (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AS04-78ET05369
• OSTI ID: 6944237
• Report Number(s): CONF-810153-3; ON: DE83003345
• Resource Relation: Conference: 2. special symposium on natural radiation environment, Bombay, India, 19 Jan 1981
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
TRACER TECHNIQUES
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
RADON
DAUGHTER PRODUCTS
DIFFUSION
LEAD 210
RADIOACTIVE AEROSOLS
RADON 220
RADON 222
REVIEWS
AEROSOLS
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
COLLOIDS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DISPERSIONS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FLUIDS
GASES
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
LEAD ISOTOPES
MASS TRANSFER
NONMETALS
NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
RADON ISOTOPES
RARE GASES
SECONDS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
SOLS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
500300* - Environment
Atmospheric- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)