Variation of activity concentration of radon decay products in the Curonian Spit

Abstract

Variation of radon decay products activity concentration on the ground level of the atmosphere has been researched in the Curonian Spit. The influence of meteorological parameters on variation in these pollutants has been estimated. During the measurement period, activities concentration of radon short-lived decay products varied from 2 to 16 Bq/m3 and values of activity concentration measured during day and night varied from 5 to 7 times. The investigation data showed that meteorological parameters as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction had great influence on radon decay products activity concentration. Negative corelation (–0.77) between radon decay products activity concentration and the temperature and positive correlation (0.8) with the relative humidity was determined. It has been observed that variations of activity concentration of radon decay products were influenced by the periodically varying wind direction – breeze, a phenomenon which rarely occurs in the region of the Baltic Sea.