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Title: Portable Radiation Package (PRP) Instrument Handbook

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1377886· OSTI ID:1377886
 [1]
  1. Remote Measurements and Research Company, Seattle, WA (United States)

The Portable Radiation Package (PRP) was developed to provide basic radiation information in locations such as ships at sea where proper exposure is remote and difficult, the platform is in motion, and azimuth alignment is not fixed. Development of the PRP began at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in the mid-1990s and versions of it were deployed on ships in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility’s Nauru-99 project. The PRP was deployed on ships in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Sensor Intercomparison for Marine Biological and Interdisciplinary Ocean Studies (SIMBIOS) program. Over the years the measurements have remained the same while the post-processing data analysis, especially for the FRSR, has evolved. This document describes the next-generation Portable Radiation Package (PRP2) that was developed for the DOE ARM Facility, under contract no. 9F-31462 from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The PRP2 has the same scientific principles that were well validated in prior studies, but has upgraded electronic hardware. The PRP2 approach is completely modular, both in hardware and software. Each sensor input is treated as a separate serial stream into the data collection computer. In this way the operator has complete access to each component of the system for purposes of error checking, calibration, and maintenance. The resulting system is more reliable, easier to install in complex situations, and more amenable to upgrade.

Research Organization:
DOE Office of Science Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-7601830
OSTI ID:
1377886
Report Number(s):
DOE/SC-ARM-TR-198
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English