Cosmogenic 22Na, 7Be and terrestrial 137Cs, 40K radionuclides in ground level air samples collected weekly in Kraków (Poland) over years 2003–2006

Błażej, Sylwia; Mietelski, Jerzy W.

doi:10.1007/s10967-014-3049-6

Cited by 27 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…5. As reported in the literature, this ratio exhibits an annual variation with high values in autumn and low values in late spring/early summer [24], [25]. In this study, however, this trend is not visible due to the high uncertainties and small amount of data available.…”

Section: Air Samplingcontrasting

confidence: 51%

Determination of 7Be, 210Pb and 22Na Activity in Air and Rainwater samples by Gamma-ray Spectroscopy

Savva

Anagnostakis

2019

hnps

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The activity concentration of cosmogenic radionuclides in atmospheric aerosol has been used in many applications, such as air mass transport models and solar activity reconstructions. One of the most studied cosmogenic radionuclides is 7Be which is being monitored at the Nuclear Engineering Department of the National Technical University of Athens (NED- NTUA) since many years, with high accuracy and precision. Sodium-22 is another cosmogenic radionuclide met in such studies, however less reported due to its very low activity concentration, of the order of 1 μBq/m3 [1], [2] – roughly four orders of magnitude lower than that of 7Be. Besides cosmogenic radionuclides, radionuclides of terrestrial origin like the 222Rn progeny 210Pb are also used in atmospheric aerosol studies. Lead-210 serves as an ideal tracer of continental air masses because 222Rn emission from oceans and lakes is negligible (<1%) compared to land sources. However, its deposition exhibits geographic and seasonal variations depending on 226Ra content of the top soils, soil-porosity and meteorology of a particular region [3]. Values reported for 210Pb activity in the air range from 0.1 to 3.4 mBq/m3 [4]. During this research, an investigation regarding the detection of 210Pb and 22Na in atmospheric aerosol and the determination of 7Be/22Na ratio has been conducted at NED-NTUA. Sampling and analysis methods were appropriately selected to allow for the detection of all three nuclides in aerosol samples. In order to study the role of precipitation in surface air 7Be, 210Pb and 22Na activity concentration, a procedure for collecting and analyzing rainwater was also developed. From the results obtained so far it is concluded that with the sampling and analysis procedures followed, 210Pb can be easily determined with reasonable accuracy. As far as 22Na is concerned, it was concluded that it can be detected although with high uncertainty, since its activity concentration is within the limits of detection.

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Section: Air Samplingcontrasting

confidence: 51%

Determination of 7Be, 210Pb and 22Na Activity in Air and Rainwater samples by Gamma-ray Spectroscopy

Savva

Anagnostakis

2019

hnps

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“…concentrations of cosmogenic isotopes at ground level. The measurements of beryllium-7 activity concentrations exhibit significant daily and weekly fluctuations 44,47,57,58 . Time series were post-processed with a moving average of 120 days to smooth out these fluctuations and normalized to make data more comparable (supplementary file Dataset1).…”

Section: Radioisotopes Demonstrate Changes In Global Atmospheric Circmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radioisotopes demonstrate changes in global atmospheric circulation possibly caused by global warming

Terzi

Wotawa

Schoeppner

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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In this paper, we present a new method to study global atmospheric processes and their changes during the last decade. A cosmogenic radionuclide measured at ground-level, beryllium-7, is utilized as a proxy to study atmospheric dynamics. Beryllium-7 has two advantages: First, this radionuclide, primarily created in the lower stratosphere, attaches to aerosols that are transported downwards to the troposphere and travel around the globe with the general atmospheric circulation. By monitoring these particles, we can provide a global, simple, and sustainable way to track processes such as multi-annual variation of the troposphere, tropopause heightening, position and speed of atmospheric interface zones, as well as the poleward movement and stalling patterns of jet streams. Second, beryllium-7 is a product of cosmic rays which are themselves directly linked to solar activity and the earth magnetic field. This study shows whether beryllium-7 observed concentration changes are correlated with such natural processes or independent of them. Our work confirms that major changes in the atmospheric circulation are currently ongoing, even though timeseries are too short to make climatological assessments. We provide solid evidence of significant and progressive changes of the global atmospheric circulation as well as modifications of tropopause heights over the past decade. As the last decade happened to be the warmest on record, this analysis also indicates that the observed changes are, at least to some extent, attributable to global warming.

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“…For instance, the MDA (minimum detectable activity), referred to as 137 Cs, was about 0.015 Bq/m 2 , while for 22 Na a slightly larger value applies, 0.025 Bq/m 2 , due to a lower spectrometric efficiency at the high energy  emission of sodium-22 (1274.5 keV). It can be demonstrated that these deposition MDA values correspond to about 0.2-0.3 µ Bq/m 3 for the activity concentration: very low values are perfectly adequate for monitoring purposes, but still not enough for a continuous monitoring of 22 Na in atmosphere, as at ground level the 22 Na activity concentrations are sometimes even lower [5]. Therefore, in order to improve the sensitivity of the measurements, single annual samples were assembled, simply mixing the 12 monthly samples: each monthly sample of a given year (4 g of dry residue) was transferred into a larger jar ( Figure 3) and counted as a new composite annual sample.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At that time, traces of 22 Na were also measured in lichens, mosses and wild game [3,4]. Nowadays, since the last atmospheric nuclear weapon detonation occurred in 1980 (Lop Nor, China), the 22 Na levels returned to the typical pre-Cold War values: atmospheric concentrations usually well below 1 µBq/m 3 at ground level [5]. However, the main interest in studying 2 of 12 this radionuclide is its use as a tracer of the atmospheric circulation, often investigated also by means of other cosmogenic radionuclides with very different half-lives (for instance: 7 Be, t 1/2 = 53.22 days and 10 Be, t 1/2 = 1.36•10 6 years) [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurements of 22Na in the Atmosphere: Ground Level Activity Concentration Values from Wet and Dry Deposition Samples

Magnoni¹,

Bellina²,

Bertino³

et al. 2020

Environments

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Sodium-22 (22Na, half-life 2.603 years) is a cosmogenic radionuclide mainly produced in the stratosphere by nuclear spallation reactions of cosmic rays on 40Ar. Due to the very low concentration levels normally reached in the environment, 22Na poses no significant radioprotection threats: actually, the effective doses delivered to humans can hardly exceed a few nSv per year, a very negligible value. However, the measurements of this radionuclides can be very interesting for atmospheric circulation and climatic studies. Unfortunately, the difficulty of 22Na detection, due to its very low concentration levels, has prevented the gathering of large and widespread time series of this radionuclide. In this paper, a method for the retrospective measurements of 22Na in the atmosphere, starting from the gamma spectra (hyperpure germanium detectors (HPGe) detectors) of wet and dry deposition samples stored in our databases is proposed and validated. The method was applied to spectra samples gathered in the context of the Italian National Radioactivity Monitoring Network (RESORAD) and allowed the detection of the very low atmospheric activity concentration values of 22Na present at ground level. The results obtained with the new method are discussed and compared for validation with the available experimental values. Finally, some possible applications to environmental studies are also highlighted and suggested.

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Cosmogenic 22Na, 7Be and terrestrial 137Cs, 40K radionuclides in ground level air samples collected weekly in Kraków (Poland) over years 2003–2006

Cited by 27 publications

References 50 publications

Determination of 7Be, 210Pb and 22Na Activity in Air and Rainwater samples by Gamma-ray Spectroscopy

Determination of 7Be, 210Pb and 22Na Activity in Air and Rainwater samples by Gamma-ray Spectroscopy

Radioisotopes demonstrate changes in global atmospheric circulation possibly caused by global warming

Measurements of 22Na in the Atmosphere: Ground Level Activity Concentration Values from Wet and Dry Deposition Samples

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