Real-Time Radionuclide Identification and Mapping Capabilities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Airborne Spectral Photometric Environmental Collection Technology

Cardarelli, John; Thomas, Mark J.; Curry, Timothy B.; Kroutil, Robert T.; Stapleton, Jeff; Miller, David H.; Small, Gary W.; Dess, Brian W.

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9891-4_10

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The gamma-ray spectral data employed in this research were provided by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Airborne Spectral Photometric Environmental Collection Technology (ASPECT) program (Cardarelli II et al, 2015). In 2010, the ASPECT aircraft was an Aero Commander 680 fixed wing aircraft.…”

Section: Equipmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated detection of radioisotopes from an aircraft platform by pattern recognition analysis of gamma-ray spectra

Dess

Cardarelli

Thomas³

et al. 2018

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

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A generalized methodology was developed for automating the detection of radioisotopes from gamma-ray spectra collected from an aircraft platform using sodium-iodide detectors. Employing data provided by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency Airborne Spectral Photometric Environmental Collection Technology (ASPECT) program, multivariate classification models based on nonparametric linear discriminant analysis were developed for application to spectra that were preprocessed through a combination of altitude-based scaling and digital filtering. Training sets of spectra for use in building classification models were assembled from a combination of background spectra collected in the field and synthesized spectra obtained by superimposing laboratory-collected spectra of target radioisotopes onto field backgrounds. This approach eliminated the need for field experimentation with radioactive sources for use in building classification models. Through a bi-Gaussian modeling procedure, the discriminant scores that served as the outputs from the classification models were related to associated confidence levels. This provided an easily interpreted result regarding the presence or absence of the signature of a specific radioisotope in each collected spectrum. Through the use of this approach, classifiers were built for cesium-137 (137 Cs) and cobalt-60 (60 Co), two radioisotopes that are of interest in airborne radiological monitoring applications. The optimized classifiers were tested with field data collected from a set of six geographically diverse sites, three of which contained either 137 Cs, 60 Co, or both. When the optimized classification models were applied, the overall percentages of correct classifications for spectra collected at these sites were 99.9 and 97.9 % for the 60 Co and 137 Cs classifiers, respectively.

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Section: Equipmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated detection of radioisotopes from an aircraft platform by pattern recognition analysis of gamma-ray spectra

Dess

Cardarelli

Thomas³

et al. 2018

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

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“…The improvement of AGRS data quality evolved side by side with the integration of geological data via increasingly refined statistical and geostatistical methods: the combined effect of both aspects allowed to go beyond traditional mineral exploration and lead to the investigation of new multidisciplinary fields, like landslide monitoring (Baroň et al, 2013), peat thickness 1 arXiv:1712.04777v1 [physics.app-ph] 13 Dec 2017 estimation (Keaney et al, 2013), prediction models for trees' growth (Mohamedou et al, 2014), radioelement distribution in weathered materials (Iza et al, 2016) and precision agriculture (Söderström et al, 2016). Concurrently, the potentialities of the AGRS technique in the sector of homeland security have been widely explored in terms of feasibility of real-time identification of anthropogenic radionuclides on top of the natural background (Cardarelli et al, 2015;Detwiler et al, 2015;Kock et al, 2012;Kulisek et al, 2015;Kock et al, 2014) and of merging and comparing results from multi-regional AGRS campaigns performed in the framework of intercomparison exercises (Bucher et al, 2009). In the light of environmental contamination assessment, the detection of anthropogenic radionuclides emitting low energy gamma-rays (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…estimation (Keaney et al, 2013), prediction models for trees' growth (Mohamedou et al, 2014), radioelement distribution in weathered materials (Iza et al, 2016) and precision agriculture (Söderström et al, 2016). Concurrently, the potentialities of the AGRS technique in the sector of homeland security have been widely explored in terms of feasibility of real-time identification of anthropogenic radionuclides on top of the natural background (Cardarelli et al, 2015;Detwiler et al, 2015;Kock et al, 2012;Kulisek et al, 2015;Kock et al, 2014) and of merging and comparing results from multi-regional AGRS campaigns performed in the framework of intercomparison exercises (Bucher et al, 2009). In the light of environmental contamination assessment, the detection of anthropogenic radionuclides emitting low energy gamma-rays (e.g.…”

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confidence: 99%

Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy for Modeling Cosmic Radiation and Effective Dose in the Lower Atmosphere

Baldoncini

Albéri

Bottardi

et al. 2018

IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing

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Abstract. In this paper we present the results of a ∼5 hour airborne gamma-ray survey carried out over the Tyrrhenian sea in which the height range (77-3066) m has been investigated. Gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements have been performed by using the AGRS_16L detector, a module of four 4L NaI(Tl) crystals. The experimental setup was mounted on the Radgyro, a prototype aircraft designed for multisensorial acquisitions in the field of proximal remote sensing. By acquiring high-statistics spectra over the sea (i.e. in the absence of signals having geological origin) and by spanning a wide spectrum of altitudes it has been possible to split the measured count rate into a constant aircraft component and a cosmic component exponentially increasing with increasing height. The monitoring of the count rate having pure cosmic origin in the >3 MeV energy region allowed to infer the background count rates in the Tl photopeaks, which need to be subtracted in processing airborne gamma-ray data in order to estimate the potassium, uranium and thorium abundances in the ground. Moreover, a calibration procedure has been carried out by implementing the CARI-6P and EXPACS dosimetry tools, according to which the annual cosmic effective dose to human population has been linearly related to the measured cosmic count rates.

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Background correction method for improving the automated detection of radioisotopes from airborne gamma-ray surveys

Dess

Kroutil²,

Small

2019

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

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Real-Time Radionuclide Identification and Mapping Capabilities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Airborne Spectral Photometric Environmental Collection Technology

Cited by 4 publications

References 3 publications

Automated detection of radioisotopes from an aircraft platform by pattern recognition analysis of gamma-ray spectra

Automated detection of radioisotopes from an aircraft platform by pattern recognition analysis of gamma-ray spectra

Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy for Modeling Cosmic Radiation and Effective Dose in the Lower Atmosphere

Background correction method for improving the automated detection of radioisotopes from airborne gamma-ray surveys

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