Determination of mechanisms and parameters which affect radon entry into a room

A critical analysis of climatic influences on indoor radon concentrations: Implications for seasonal correction

“…SCFs derived from experimental radon concentration data show poor correlation with SCFs derived from either the external temperature (r ¼ 0.11) or either of the 1988 (r ¼ 0.10) or 2012e2014 (r ¼ 0.02) domestic SCF sets, but show moderate correlation (r ¼ 0.50) with SCFs derived from the temperature difference. This correlation indicates that the temperature difference between the Test Room and the external environment provides, via the corresponding pressure difference, the primary force driving radon ingress, a view recently supported by Vasilyev and Zhukovsky (2013) who showed that, in a closed room, temperature- difference dependence of radon accumulation is indicative of the dominance of advection over diffusion as the radon source. This is consistent with the known parameters of the Test Room, particularly its location at or below ground-level, and its assumed constructional details.…”

“…Wavelet and power spectra confirmed the predominance of one year periodicity, with additional components with periodicity of 1.2, 1.5, 2.8 and 7.2 years. Finally, Perrier et al (2009Perrier et al ( , 2013 have demonstrated the sensitivity of soil-gas radon flux and concentration to atmospheric pressure changes, in particular to periodic signals such as the semi-diurnal barometric tide S2 (Simpson, 1919), the response being dependent on the presence or absence of an interface, such as that between bed-rock and surface drift strata, and on the presence or absence of air and water.…”

“…Also, although not derived here, other measures of atmospheric moisture content, such as vapour density, might be more appropriate than vapour pressure or dew point. Perrier and Girault (2013) have recently demonstrated that radon flux and concentration in the soil are sensitive to atmospheric pressure variations, particularly to periodic phenomena such as the semi-diurnal barometric tide S2 (Simpson, 1919), and have analysed radon response to barometric oscillations in a horizontal layer over a half-space, representing the situation where a Although radon modulation amplitudes are generally small and difficult to detect, situations may exist where the amplitudes of low-order harmonics exceed 100 Bq m À3 , leading, for example, to possible detection of periodicity in the radon power spectra associated with S2. The presence of an interface significantly influences the response to barometric oscillations, a significant negative phase shift in the surface radon flux being introduced in the presence of a shallow interface, while radon flux is almost in phase opposition with atmospheric pressure over a homogeneous half-space.…”

Reconstruction of national distribution of indoor radon concentration in Russia using results of regional indoor radon measurement programs

“…More air-tight construction causes lower concentration in one-storey brick and stone houses. The lowest average indoor radon concentration is obtained in multi-storey apartment buildings, where the diffusion from building materials dominates over convection as the radon source (Vasilyev and Zhukovsky, 2013).…”

Measurement strategy to study radon source, entry and dilution rates in energy-efficient buildings in Russia

“…A method, that is based on high-resolution radon time series and allows to determine the ventilation rate corresponding inactive and active modes of room use of radon entry analysis, was developed earlier [4]. The method consists of the continuous measurements of radon concentration, temperature and pressure difference between indoor and outdoor atmosphere and analysis.…”