Combining nested and linear sampling for determining the scale and form of the spatial variation of soil radon in the midlands area of England
✍ Scribed by I. Badr; S.A. Durrani
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1993
- Weight
- 421 KB
- Volume
- 22
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0969-8078
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✦ Synopsis
The statistical method of 'unbalanced nested sampling' has been applied to radon measurements in the field in order to determine the scale and pattern of spatlal variation in radon soil-gas concentrations. This technique allows these parameters to be economically determined over several orders of magnitude by incorporating a spatial scale in the nested analysis. By s.am~ltng the radon concentrations In soil at 108 Individual points over a 225 km area In the Hereford and Worcester county of the English Midlands, it was shown that 95 Z of the total variation In the activity concentrations occurred over a scale of less than 10 m -the distance between the closest sampling points used. In all cases the soil gas concentrations were measured using the solid state nuclear track detection technique.
The results of the nested analysis, if confirmed by further measurements at other locations, would Imply that there is little evidence of spatial correlation of the measurements: i.e. that radon seems to behave erratically over small distances so that the surrounding radon values are unsuitable for estimation by interpolation.