THE HIGH ALTITUDE SAMPLING PROGRAM. VOLUME 1. HASP PURPOSE AND METHODS. Final Report

Technical Report · Thu Aug 31 00:00:00 EDT 1961

OSTI ID:4820311

Friend, J P; Feely, H W; Krey, P W; Spar, J; Walton, A

High flying long-range aircraft were used to collect filter samples of stratospheric air, to altitudes of 70,000 ft, in a meridional sampling corridor. The samplers and the filter medium were calibrated to permit accurate determination of the volumes of sampled air. About 3700 filter samples were collected and analyzed between Aug. 1957 and June 1960. An ion-exchange technique was used to measure the first few hundred samples received, but carrier radiochemistry was used on all subsequent samples. Virtually all were analyzed for total beta activity and Sr/sup 90/ concentration. More than 300 analyses were made of each of the hazardous nuclides Cs/sup 137/ and Pu. Shorterlived fission products were also measured in all samples to determine the age and origin of the debris which they eontained. Many samples collected before 1958 were assayed for Ba/sup 140/. Almost all samples collected before mid-1950 were assayed for Sr/sup 89/ or Zr/sup 95/, and a few were also analyzed for Y/sup 91/. Measurements of Ce/sup 144/ were made on some samples collected during 1958 and 1959 and on most collected during 1960. One of the Hardtack tracers, W/sup 185/ or W/sup 181/ was measured in almost every sample collected after May 1958. Many samples collected during the period of Dec. 1959 to June 1960, and a few collected earlier, were analyzed for Rh/sup 102/, the tracer for an Aug. 1958 rocket shot. Analyses were made on many samples collected during late 1959 and early 1960 for cosmic ray produced Be/sup 7/, and analyses of P/sup 32/ were made on a few samples, in order to trace stratospheric mixing processes. The sampling program and all techniques employed are described. (C.H.)

• Research Organization: Isotopes, Inc., Westwood, N.J.
• DOE Contract Number: DA-29-044-XZ-609
• NSA Number: NSA-16-006639
• OSTI ID: 4820311
• Report Number(s): DASA-1300(Vol.1)
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-62
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

HEALTH AND SAFETY
AIR
AIRCRAFT
BARIUM 140
BERYLLIUM 7
BETA PARTICLES
CERIUM 144
CESIUM 137
COSMIC RADIATION
FILTERS
FISSION PRODUCTS
FISSIONABLE MATERIALS
GEOPHYSICS
HALF-LIFE
ION EXCHANGE
MIXING
PHOSPHORUS 32
PLUTONIUM
PROJECT HARDTACK
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
QUANTITY RATIO
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOISOTOPES
RHODIUM 102
ROCKETS
SAFETY
SAMPLING
STANDARDS
STRATOSPHERE
STRONTIUM 89
STRONTIUM 90
TRACER TECHNIQUES
TUNGSTEN 181
TUNGSTEN 185
VOLUME
YTTRIUM 91
ZIRCONIUM 95
ZONES