Articles | Volume 10, issue 18
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-8969-2010
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-8969-2010
27 Sep 2010
 | 27 Sep 2010

A map of radon flux at the Australian land surface

A. D. Griffiths, W. Zahorowski, A. Element, and S. Werczynski

Abstract. A time-dependent map of radon-222 flux density at the Australian land surface has been constructed with a spatial resolution of 0.05° and temporal resolution of one month. Radon flux density was calculated from a simple model utilising data from national gamma-ray aerial surveys; modelled soil moisture, available from 1900 in near real-time; and maps of soil properties. The model was calibrated against a data set of accumulation chamber measurements, thereby constraining it with experimental data. A notable application of the map is in atmospheric mixing and transport studies which use radon as a tracer, where it is a clear improvement on the common assumption of uniform radon flux density.

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