Radon metrology at NARL, Gadanki

Abstract

It is unavoidable to be exposed to radon and its progeny, and numerous researchers in India have conducted substantial research to understand any potential health implications. It's interesting to observe that the time scale of several atmospheric processes and the half-life of radon, which is 3.82 days, are comparable. As a result, the Radon measurements can be used to understand various research problems in the area of atmospheric physics. The assessment of three years' data of radon activity concentration, as well as its daughter, ambient gamma dose, and climate data, was carried out at the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki, India (13.46° N, 79.17° E). It is possible to observe the breakdown of periodicity, a strong daily and seasonal trend, and the relationship between the measured and dependent variables while looking at a time series in general. Radon activity was shown to exhibit a clearly defined diurnal pattern, and FFT analysis revealed the Radon time series' latent memory of sub-diurnal fluctuations. Radon and its progeny were found to have mean levels of 12.2 ± 2.1 Bq/m³ and 4.2 ± 2.3 mWL, respectively. At NARL, the ambient gamma radiation dose rate was 186 ± 9.3 nSv/hour, which is within UNSCEAR's allowed limits.