Abstract
The SRS-05 radon-recording seismic station is widely used to monitor the volumetric activity of radon, primarily to detect its increase as an earthquake precursor. The low sensitivity of the sensor does not allow real-time recording of background volumetric activity of radon isotopes 222Rn (radon) and 220Rn (thoron). However, accurate measurement of background volumetric activity of radon isotopes is of great interest, especially in studies of ionization processes and the electric state of the near-surface atmosphere. This paper proposes a method for determining the mean background volumetric activity of radon isotopes based on α-spectra from a radon-recording seismic station over a long period (several days). The determined background volumetric activity of 222Rn and 220Rn in soil and near-surface atmosphere at the Borok Geophysical Observatory are presented.
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Funding
The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 18-05-00233—development of the method for estimating the volumetric activity of radon isotopes) and the state task for Borok GO IPE RAS (project no. 0144-2014-0015—observatory-based recording of the volumetric activity of radon isotopes).
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Translated by N. Astafiev
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Anisimov, S.V., Dmitriev, E.M. & Kozmina, A.S. Background Volumetric Activity of Radon and Thoron in Soil and Surface Atmosphere Observed by a Radon-Recording Seismic Station. Seism. Instr. 56, 245–253 (2020). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0747923920030019
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S0747923920030019