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Proceedings Series Sources and Measurements of Radon and Radon Progeny Applied to Climate and Air Quality Studies Proceedings of a technical meeting held in Vienna, organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency and co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA ISBN 92–0–123610–4 ISSN 0074–1884 SOURCES AND MEASUREMENTS OF RADON AND RADON PROGENY APPLIED TO CLIMATE AND AIR QUALITY STUDIES Proceedings of a technical meeting held in Vienna, organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency and co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GHANA NIGERIA ALBANIA GREECE NORWAY ALGERIA GUATEMALA OMAN ANGOLA HAITI PAKISTAN ARGENTINA HOLY SEE PALAU ARMENIA HONDURAS PANAMA AUSTRALIA HUNGARY PARAGUAY ICELAND AUSTRIA PERU AZERBAIJAN INDIA PHILIPPINES BAHRAIN INDONESIA POLAND BANGLADESH IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PORTUGAL BELARUS IRAQ QATAR BELGIUM IRELAND REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA BELIZE ISRAEL BENIN ITALY ROMANIA BOLIVIA JAMAICA RUSSIAN FEDERATION BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA JAPAN SAUDI ARABIA BOTSWANA JORDAN SENEGAL BRAZIL KAZAKHSTAN SERBIA BULGARIA KENYA SEYCHELLES BURKINA FASO KOREA, REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE BURUNDI KUWAIT SINGAPORE CAMBODIA KYRGYZSTAN SLOVAKIA CAMEROON LAO PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC SLOVENIA REPUBLIC CANADA SOUTH AFRICA LATVIA CENTRAL AFRICAN SPAIN REPUBLIC LEBANON SRI LANKA CHAD LESOTHO SUDAN CHILE LIBERIA SWEDEN CHINA LIBYA SWITZERLAND COLOMBIA LIECHTENSTEIN SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC CONGO LITHUANIA COSTA RICA LUXEMBOURG TAJIKISTAN CÔTE DIVOIRE MADAGASCAR THAILAND CROATIA MALAWI THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA CUBA MALAYSIA CYPRUS MALI TUNISIA CZECH REPUBLIC MALTA TURKEY DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC MARSHALL ISLANDS UGANDA OF THE CONGO MAURITANIA UKRAINE DENMARK MAURITIUS UNITED ARAB EMIRATES DOMINICA MEXICO UNITED KINGDOM OF DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MONACO GREAT BRITAIN AND ECUADOR MONGOLIA NORTHERN IRELAND EGYPT MONTENEGRO UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA EL SALVADOR MOROCCO ERITREA MOZAMBIQUE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ESTONIA MYANMAR URUGUAY ETHIOPIA NAMIBIA UZBEKISTAN FINLAND NEPAL VENEZUELA FRANCE NETHERLANDS VIETNAM GABON NEW ZEALAND YEMEN GEORGIA NICARAGUA ZAMBIA GERMANY NIGER ZIMBABWE The Agency’s Statute was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the IAEA held at United Nations Headquarters, New York; it entered into force on 29 July 1957. The Headquarters of the Agency are situated in Vienna. Its principal objective is “to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world’’. IAEA Proceedings Series SOURCES AND MEASUREMENTS OF RADON AND RADON PROGENY APPLIED TO CLIMATE AND AIR QUALITY STUDIES INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2012 COPYRIGHT NOTICE All IAEA scientific and technical publications are protected by the terms of the Universal Copyright Convention as adopted in 1952 (Berne) and as revised in 1972 (Paris). The copyright has since been extended by the World Intellectual Property Organization (Geneva) to include electronic and virtual intellectual property. Permission to use whole or parts of texts contained in IAEA publications in printed or electronic form must be obtained and is usually subject to royalty agreements. Proposals for non-commercial reproductions and translations are welcomed and considered on a case-by-case basis. Enquiries should be addressed to the IAEA Publishing Section at: Marketing and Sales Unit, Publishing Section International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria fax: +43 1 2600 29302 tel.: +43 1 2600 22417 email: [email protected] http://www.iaea.org/books For further information on this publication, please contact: Terrestrial Environment Laboratory IAEA Laboratories, 2444 Seibersdorf, Austria email: [email protected] © IAEA, 2012 Printed by the IAEA in Austria February 2012 STI/PUB/1541 IAEA Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Technical Meeting on Sources and Measurements of Radon and Radon Progeny Applied to Climate and Air Quality Studies (2011 : Vienna, Austria) Sources and measurements of radon and radon progeny applied to climate and air quality studies : proceedings of a technical meeting held in Vienna / organized by the International Atomic Energy and co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization. – Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 2011. p. ; 30 cm. – (Proceedings series, ISSN 0074-1884) STI/PUB/1541 ISBN 92-0-123610-4 Includes bibliographical references. 1. Atmospheric radon – Measurement. 2. Air quality – Research. 3. Greenhouse effect, Atmospheric. I. International Atomic Energy Agency. II. Series: Proceedings series (International Atomic Energy Agency). IAEAL 11-00716 FOREWORD The naturally occurring radionuclide radon (222Rn), together with its radioactive progeny (in particular 210Pb), have been widely used to study a variety of atmospheric processes and to test and validate comprehensive global chemical transport models. In recent years, a particularly important application has been found in estimating regional scale greenhouse gas emissions. Several time series datasets have been collected of 222Rn and 210Pb concentrations in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) for a variety of purposes related to climate and air quality. An example of such a data collection is the use of radon monitors as a part of the World Meteorological Organization’s Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) network. Unfortunately, the effective use of radionuclide observations is presently limited by the accuracy of source functions used by models, and by a globally uncoordinated approach to measurements, data archiving and data quality assurance, especially in relation to radon exhalation. In June 2009 a Technical Meeting on Sources and Measurements of Radon and Radon Progeny Applied to Climate and Air Quality Studies was held in Vienna, Austria. The meeting was organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The meeting brought together scientists and engineers who are involved in one or more of the following: measurements and modeling of radon exhalation flux densities from the Earth’s surface, measurement of atmospheric radon and radon progeny concentrations, and/or development and use of atmospheric transport models. A major focus of the meeting was on moving towards agreed approaches to estimating radon exhalation flux densities, and to improving quality assurance of measurements both of radon exhalation flux densities and of concentrations of radon and radon progeny in the atmosphere. This is in the frame of the IAEA programme “Protection of the Marine and Terrestrial Environments” in which the transfer and behaviour of radionuclides and non-radioactive pollutants in the marine as well as terrestrial environment are investigated to develop and improve transfer models used for impact assessments with environmental issues. This publication brings together summaries of the three individual sessions of the meeting, as well as individual papers by participants. The IAEA and WMO are grateful to the experts for their contributions to the meeting and to this report, and in particular to the session chairpersons (S. Schery, W. Zahorowski and S. Taguchi) and rapporteurs (F. Conen, R. Neubert and S. Galmarini). The support of L. Jalkanen of the World Meteorological Organization, and of C.K. Kim and A. Gondin da Fonseca of the Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, are gratefully acknowledged. The IAEA officer responsible for this publication was P. Martin of the IAEA Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Seibersdorf. EDITORIAL NOTE The papers in these Proceedings (including the figures, tables and references) have undergone only the minimum copy editing considered necessary for the reader’s assistance. The views expressed remain, however, the responsibility of the named authors or participants. In addition, the views are not necessarily those of the governments of the nominating Member States or of the nominating organizations. Although great care has been taken to maintain the accuracy of information contained in this publication, neither the IAEA nor its Member States assume any responsibility for consequences which may arise from its use. The use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by the publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of their authorities and institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries. The mention of names of specific companies or products (whether or not indicated as registered) does not imply any intention to infringe proprietary rights, nor should it be construed as an endorsement or recommendation on the part of the IAEA. The authors are responsible for having obtained the necessary permission for the IAEA to reproduce, translate or use material from sources already protected by copyrights. Material prepared by authors who are in contractual relation with governments is copyrighted by the IAEA, as publisher, only to the extent permitted by the appropriate national regulations. CONTENTS SESSION SUMMARIES ........................................................................................................... 1 SESSION I: RADON EXHALATION: MEASUREMENTS AND MODELLING ..................................................................................... 1 SESSION 2: MEASUREMENTS OF RADON AND RADON PROGENY IN THE ATMOSPHERE

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