A 40-year retrospective European radon flux inventory including climatological variability

Characteristics of the atmospheric electric field and correlation with CO2 at a rural site in southern Balkans

“…The assumption that natural radioactivity is a local generator that causes PG reversal is further supported by the fact that the station site overlies granitic deposits and uranium ores (Pergamalis et al 1998;Pergamalis et al 2010) and exhibits some of the highest radon fluxes in Europe. This factor, which has been confirmed by models (López-Coto et al 2013) and recent observations (Kourtidis et al 2015), could be also responsible for increased conductivity close to the ground (Latha 2007). Along with the generally low aerosol concentrations that our site exhibits, as a typical rural site away from heavy pollution sources like industries and major cities such as Athens (Retalis and Retalis 1997), this factor was responsible for a reduced AW mean value of 66.24 V m −1 (Israelsson and Tammet 2001).…”

Analysis of ground‐based 222Rn measurements over Spain: Filling the gap in southwestern Europe

“…In Figure the locations of GIC3, DEC3, and UHU stations are presented (violet labels) overlapped with the averaged 222 Rn flux inventory calculated over 40 years of retrospective climatology by López‐Coto et al . [].…”

“…Due to its physical characteristics, presented in classical literature such as Fleischer et al . [], Tanner [], Nazaroff and Nero [], Nazaroff [], and Porstendorfer [], the radioactive noble gas 222 Rn is widely used by the scientific community to study a number of different research topics, such as (i) to improve inverse transport models, which are used to calculate emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) [ Biraud et al ., ; Hirao et al ., ; Locatelli et al ., ]; (ii) to study atmospheric transport and mixing processes within the planetary boundary layer [ Zahorowski et al ., ; Galmarini , ; Vinuesa et al ., ; Baskaran , ; Chambers et al ., , ; Williams et al ., , ; Grossi et al ., ; Vogel et al ., ; Hernández‐Ceballos et al ., ; Vargas et al ., ]; (iii) to improve radon flux inventories [ Szegvary et al ., ; Griffiths et al ., ; López‐Coto et al ., ; Karstens et al ., ]; (iv) to experimentally estimate GHGs fluxes by using the Radon Tracer Method [ Levin et al ., ; Vogel et al ., ; Wada et al ., ; Grossi et al ., ]; (v) to understand the influence of climate change on the atmospheric radon increase and its associated health risks [ Nazaroff , ; Bochicchio et al ., ; Bossew et al ., ]; and (vi) to refine baseline selection and characterization techniques and analyze air mass history and fetch at remote sites [ Zahorowski et al ., ; Chambers et al ., , , ].…”

“…To address this issue, the Institut Català de Ciències del Clima (IC3), in collaboration with the Institut de Tècniques Energètiques of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (INTE‐UPC) and the Universidad de Huelva (UHU), is deploying several atmospheric radon monitors (ARMONs) [ Grossi et al ., ; Vargas et al ., ] in coastal and mountainous areas of Spain covering a broad range of regions with local radon flux source strengths ranging from 20 Bq m −2 h −1 to 180 Bq m −2 h −1 [ Szegvary et al ., ; López‐Coto et al ., ; Karstens et al ., ]. The ARMON is a recently improved electrostatic deposition system which has already been presented in details by Grossi [] and Grossi et al .…”

“…Location of operative atmospheric 222 Rn stations in Europe (black labels), recently established stations running in Spain (violet labels), and stations included in the 222 Rn monitors comparison exercise (black rectangles) overlaid on the 40 years retrospective climatology 222 Rn flux inventory by López‐Coto et al . [].…”