Validating Safecast data by comparisons to a U. S. Department of Energy Fukushima Prefecture aerial survey

Coletti, Mark; Hultquist, Carolynne; Kennedy, William G.; Cervone, Guido

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.01.005

Title: Validating Safecast data by comparisons to a U. S. Department of Energy Fukushima Prefecture aerial survey

Abstract

Safecast is a volunteered geographic information (VGI) project where the lay public collects radiation measurements via hand-held sensors that are uploaded to a central server and then made freely available. However, Safecast data fidelity is uncertain given that the these sensors are hand assembled with various levels of technical proficiency, and that the sensors may not be properly deployed. We validated Safecast data gathered in the Fukushima Prefecture shortly after the Daiichi nuclear power plant catastrophe by comparing it with authoritative data collected by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) during the same period. We found that the two data sets were highly correlated, though the DOE/NNSA observations were generally higher than the Safecast measurements. We concluded that this high correlation alone makes Safecast a viable data source for detecting and monitoring fallout during radiological emergencies.

Authors:

^[1];

^[2];

^[3]; Cervone, Guido ^[4]

Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Dept. of Geography and Inst. for CyberScience, Geoinformatics and Earth Observation Lab.; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Computational Science and Engineering Div., Geographic Information Science and Technology Group
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Dept. of Geography and Inst. for CyberScience, Geoinformatics and Earth Observation Lab.
George Mason Univ., Fairfax, VA (United States). Center for Social Complexity, Krasnow Inst. for Advanced Study
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Dept. of Geography and Inst. for CyberScience, Geoinformatics and Earth Observation Lab.; National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States). Research Application Lab.

Publication Date:: Mon May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017

Research Org.:: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE

OSTI Identifier:: 1393887

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 171; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0265-931X

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.; 46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Citation Formats


                    Coletti, Mark, Hultquist, Carolynne, Kennedy, William G., and Cervone, Guido. Validating Safecast data by comparisons to a U. S. Department of Energy Fukushima Prefecture aerial survey.  United States: N. p., 2017. 
Web.  doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.01.005.

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                    Coletti, Mark, Hultquist, Carolynne, Kennedy, William G., & Cervone, Guido. Validating Safecast data by comparisons to a U. S. Department of Energy Fukushima Prefecture aerial survey.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.01.005

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                    Coletti, Mark, Hultquist, Carolynne, Kennedy, William G., and Cervone, Guido. Mon .  
"Validating Safecast data by comparisons to a U. S. Department of Energy Fukushima Prefecture aerial survey".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.01.005.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1393887.

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@article{osti_1393887,

  title        = {Validating Safecast data by comparisons to a U. S. Department of Energy Fukushima Prefecture aerial survey},

  author       = {Coletti, Mark and Hultquist, Carolynne and Kennedy, William G. and Cervone, Guido},

  abstractNote = {Safecast is a volunteered geographic information (VGI) project where the lay public collects radiation measurements via hand-held sensors that are uploaded to a central server and then made freely available. However, Safecast data fidelity is uncertain given that the these sensors are hand assembled with various levels of technical proficiency, and that the sensors may not be properly deployed. We validated Safecast data gathered in the Fukushima Prefecture shortly after the Daiichi nuclear power plant catastrophe by comparing it with authoritative data collected by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) during the same period. We found that the two data sets were highly correlated, though the DOE/NNSA observations were generally higher than the Safecast measurements. We concluded that this high correlation alone makes Safecast a viable data source for detecting and monitoring fallout during radiological emergencies.},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.01.005},

  journal      = {Journal of Environmental Radioactivity},

  number       = C,

  volume       = 171,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Mon May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017},

  month        = {Mon May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017}

}

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.01.005

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Works referenced in this record:

Safecast: successful citizen-science for radiation measurement and communication after Fukushima
journal, June 2016

Brown, Azby; Franken, Pieter; Bonner, Sean
Journal of Radiological Protection, Vol. 36, Issue 2
DOI: 10.1088/0952-4746/36/2/S82

Preliminary Estimation of Release Amounts of ¹³¹ I and ¹³⁷ Cs Accidentally Discharged from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Atmosphere
journal, July 2011

Chino, Masamichi; Nakayama, Hiromasa; Nagai, Haruyasu
Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, Vol. 48, Issue 7
DOI: 10.1080/18811248.2011.9711799

The credibility of volunteered geographic information
journal, July 2008

Flanagin, Andrew J.; Metzger, Miriam J.
GeoJournal, Vol. 72, Issue 3-4
DOI: 10.1007/s10708-008-9188-y

Fukushima in review: A complex disaster, a disastrous response
journal, March 2012

Funabashi, Yoichi; Kitazawa, Kay
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Vol. 68, Issue 2
DOI: 10.1177/0096340212440359

Citizens as sensors: the world of volunteered geography
journal, November 2007

Goodchild, Michael F.
GeoJournal, Vol. 69, Issue 4
DOI: 10.1007/s10708-007-9111-y

How Good is Volunteered Geographical Information? A Comparative Study of OpenStreetMap and Ordnance Survey Datasets
journal, August 2010

Haklay, Mordechai
Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, Vol. 37, Issue 4
DOI: 10.1068/b35097

Aerial Measuring System in Japan
journal, January 2012

Lyons, Craig; Colton, David
Health Physics, Vol. 102, Issue 5
DOI: 10.1097/HP.0b013e31824d0056

What We Know, and What We Have Not Yet Learned: Triple Disasters and the Fukushima Nuclear Fiasco in Japan
journal, November 2011

Nakamura, Akira; Kikuchi, Masao
Public Administration Review, Vol. 71, Issue 6
DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2011.02437.x

The 2011 eastern Japan great earthquake disaster: Overview and comments
journal, March 2011

Norio, Okada; Ye, Tao; Kajitani, Yoshio
International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, Vol. 2, Issue 1
DOI: 10.1007/s13753-011-0004-9

Works referencing / citing this record:

Validation of a novel radiation mapping platform for the reduction of operator-induced shielding effects
journal, August 2018

Martin, P. G.; Hutson, C.; Payne, L.
Journal of Radiological Protection, Vol. 38, Issue 3
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6498/aad5f2

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Similar Records

Title: Validating Safecast data by comparisons to a U. S. Department of Energy Fukushima Prefecture aerial survey

Abstract

Citation Formats

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journal, July 2008

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