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Modeling of radon exhalation from soil influenced by environmental parameters

Atmospheric radioactive noble gas radon (Rn-222) originates from soil gas exhaled in the atmospheric surface layer. Radon exhalation rates from soil as well as corresponding meteorological and soil parameters were recorded for two subsequent years. Based on long-term field data, a statistical regres...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Science of the total environment 2019-03, Vol.656, p.1304-1311
Main Authors: Yang, Jinmin, Busen, Hannah, Scherb, Hagen, Hürkamp, Kerstin, Guo, Qiuju, Tschiersch, Jochen
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Atmospheric radioactive noble gas radon (Rn-222) originates from soil gas exhaled in the atmospheric surface layer. Radon exhalation rates from soil as well as corresponding meteorological and soil parameters were recorded for two subsequent years. Based on long-term field data, a statistical regression model for the radon exhalation and the most important influencing parameters soil water content, temperature of soil and air, air pressure and autocorrelation of the exhalation rate was established. The fitting result showed that the multivariate model can explain up to 61% of the variation of the exhalation rate. First, the exhalation rate increases up to 80 Bq m−2 h−1 with increasing soil water content. Later, at water content >10%, increasing soil wetness suppressed the exhalation rate: at values higher than 24% to approximately one third. The air temperature had a distinct positive effect while the soil temperature had a strong negative effect on the exhalation rate, indicating their different influencing-mechanisms on the exhalation. The air pressure was negligible. The lagged values of radon exhalation had to be included in the model, as the variable shows strong autocorrelation. [Display omitted] •A two year continuous radon exhalation rate measurement was carried out.•Soil and atmospheric parameters were recorded.•The compound effects of soil water content on radon exhalation were corroborated.•A statistical multivariate regression model using environmental parameters and autocorrelation was established.
ISSN:0048-9697
1879-1026
DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.464