Modelling seasonal variations of natural radionuclides in agricultural soils

Guagliardi, Ilaria; Buttafuoco, Gabriele; Ricca, Nicola; Cipriani, Maria Grazia; Civitelli, Donatella; Froio, Raffaele; Gabriele, A. L.; Rosa, R. De

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/20130108009

“…(Ricca & Guagliardi, 2015). The Calabrian climate is generally Mediterranean but the rather complex orographic characteristics of this territory, combined with the simultaneous exposure to the Tyrrhenian Sea (which implies more continental climate in the coast compared to the Ionian side) and to the Ionian Sea (which implies high temperatures and short and abundant rainfall due to frequent African warm air currents) makes the climate of this territory very changeable and complex (Guagliardi et al, 2013(Guagliardi et al, , 2016(Guagliardi et al, , 2018.…”

Section: Study Area and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

The De Martonne aridity index in Calabria (Southern Italy)

Pellicone

¹

,

Caloiero

²

,

Guagliardi

³

2019

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In this paper, the annual rainfall and temperature values, measured in the period 1951-2016 in a region of southern Italy (Calabria), have been spatially interpolated using deterministic and geostatistical techniques in an R environment. In particular, Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW), Ordinary Kriging (OK), Kriging with External Drift (KED) and Ordinary Cokriging (COK) were compared to evaluate the best suitability method in reproducing the actual surface. Then, the spatial variation of aridity in Calabria has been evaluated using the De Martonne aridity index (IDM), which is based on rainfall and temperature data. As a result, geostatistical methods incontrovertibly show a better estimate than the IDW. Specifically, the KED was identified as the best predictor method for both rainfall and temperature data. Moreover, the spatial distribution of the IDM evidenced that the majority of the study area can be classified as humid, with semi-arid conditions mainly identified in the coastal areas.

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“…It covers 92 km 2 , is densely populated with about 106,000 inhabitants and poorly industrialized. It is representative of Mediterranean areas for common geological, geomorphological, pedological, climatic, and urbanization characteristics, as well as for the widespread presence of rocks hosting radionuclides (Buttafuoco et al 2011;Bruno et al 2012;Guagliardi et al 2013dGuagliardi et al , 2015Ricca and Guagliardi 2015).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling seasonal variations of natural radioactivity in soils: A case study in southern Italy

Guagliardi

¹

,

Rovella

²

,

Apollaro

³

et al. 2016

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The activity of natural radionuclides in soil has become an environmental concern for local public and national authorities because of the harmful effects of radiation exposure on human health. In this context, modelling and mapping the activity of natural radionuclides in soil is an important research topic. The study was aimed to model, in a spatial sense, the soil radioactivity in an urban and peri-urban soils area in southern Italy to analyse the seasonal influence on soil radioactivity. Measures of gamma radiation naturally emitted through the decay of radioactive isotopes (potassium, uranium and thorium) were analysed using a geostatistical approach to map the spatial distribution of soil radioactivity. The activity of three radionuclides was measured at 181 locations using a high-resolution γ-ray spectrometry. To take into account the influence of season, the measurements were carried out in summer and in winter. Activity data were analysed by using a geostatistical approach and zones of relatively high or low radioactivity were delineated. Among the main processes which influence natural radioactivity such as geology, geochemical, pedological, and ecological processes, results of this study showed a prominent control of radio-emission measurements by seasonal changes. Low natural radioactivity levels were measured in December associated with winter weather and moist soil conditions (due to high rainfall and low temperature), and higher activity values in July, when the soil was dry and no precipitations occurred.

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“…Environmentally, the soil on the earth's crust can be considered a radioactive threat because it is a source of continuous exposure for the population and because, considering agricultural soil, it allows radionuclides to enter the food chain and thus to contaminate humans through crops [15,16]. Indeed, the soil-to-plant transfer can be considered a paramount process since; in the long run, radioelements enter the human food chains through the uptake of plant roots.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Estimation of Radiation Equivalent Dose Rates in Soils and Waters of Northern Calabria (Italy)

Guagliardi

¹

,

Caloiero

²

,

Infusino

³

et al. 2021

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In this study, the equivalent dose rate of natural radionuclides ( H T ) in 99 spring water and surface soil samples was determined using an alpha, beta, and gamma high sensitivity detector up within a Geiger-Muller tube and with an external probe NaI (Tl). The samples were collected in the Crati basin (southern Italy), and during sample collection, water quality parameters were detected in situ and at the University of Calabria laboratories. A Pearson correlation coefficient analysis was applied to identify and clarify the relationships between water physical-chemical properties and soil and water radioactivity. Results show that the mean H T for spring waters is 97.07 μSv/h. Furthermore, the mean H T for surface soils is 97.92 μSv/h, thus evidencing higher mean H T values than worldwide ones reported in a previous literature. Low correlation coefficients were detected between water H T and conductivity and pH. On the contrary, a reasonable correlation was found between H T in spring water and in soil. This relationship is associated with some rocks of the Sila Massif and of Coastal Chain, i.e., plutonic and metamorphic crystalline rocks. Finally, the estimation of the health risk was calculated: results did not evidence serious dangers for people living in the studied environment. The results from this survey for the H T evaluation provide an extensive assessment of the background exposure levels in the investigated area.

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Modelling seasonal variations of natural radionuclides in agricultural soils

Cited by 5 publications

References 12 publications

The De Martonne aridity index in Calabria (Southern Italy)

The De Martonne aridity index in Calabria (Southern Italy)

Modelling seasonal variations of natural radioactivity in soils: A case study in southern Italy

Environmental Estimation of Radiation Equivalent Dose Rates in Soils and Waters of Northern Calabria (Italy)

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