Short-term temporal variations of soil gas radon concentration and comparison of measurement techniques

Abstract

Short-term temporal variations of soil gas radon concentration have been studied using different measuring techniques--instantaneous methods (grab sampling) using Lucas cells, continuous monitors, and integral nuclear track-etch detectors. A relatively low variability appeared during a 72-h follow-up. Different temporal changes were observed by using different methods. A substantial part of these changes was probably caused by fluctuations and errors connected with measuring methods themselves and did not reflect real variations of the measured parameter.

Soil radon in winter months under snowpack in Hokkaido, Japan

“…Depth of the hole was adjusted as close to the ground surface as possible. Air samples were kept in the laboratory for about three hours to allow the radon daughters being equilibrium with the parent radon gas in the cell (Neznal et al 2004).…”

Radon as an Earthquake Precursor – Methods for Detecting Anomalies

“…On the other hand, barometric pressure has the major influence on radon concentrations in soils in advective systems, which display generally higher gas flows. However, micro-scale soil heterogeneities in permeability, porosity and lithology can cause significant heterogeneities in the response of radon concentration to changes of atmospheric parameters (King & Minissale, 1994;Neznal et al, 2004). Numerous and often divergent results in studies related to the effect of external factors on soil gas radon concentration suggest that no general predictive model for excluding meteorological effects can be proposed, and studies of radon in soil gas need a simultaneous record of meteorological parameters.…”

Lorenz Curve and Gini Coefficient: Novel tools for analysing seasonal variation of environmental radon gas

“…During the emanation process, radon gas, generated by a-decay within mineral grains and at their surfaces, reaches the airand water-filled interstices by recoil and diffusion, where its migration is directed towards lower concentration regions, generally the earth's surface, following the local gradient. As soil characteristics are influenced by changes in meteorological conditions, temporal variations of soil-gas radon concentration are widely observed (Neznal et al, 2004). Likewise, since geomorphology varies from location to location, significant spatial variability of soilgas radon can exist over an area of apparently stable soil geochemistry (Neznal et al, 1996).…”