Investigation of Contributions of Cosmic Radiation to Background Dose with Altitude at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria

This study investigated the contributions of cosmic radiation to background dose at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria using two portable survey meters (Rados -120 and FH 40F2 ). The work was conducted in two phases (dry and rainy seasons).The recorded gamma dose rates were observed to proportionally increase with increase in altitude, that is from ground floor (altitude 3.52 m above sea level) to the eight floor (altitude 30.08 m above sea level). In a similar manner, there were observed variations in the seasonal results-the dry season data were consistently higher than the rainy season data. The mean measured indoor and outdoor gamma dose rates for the two seasons (rainy and dry seasons) were 210.0nSv/h and 279.4nSv/h, and 231.3nSv/h and 368.8nSv/h at the ground floor and the eight floor, respectively. The rainy season result repeated itself on a particular very heavy rainy day with a mean measured gamma dose rate of 204.4nSv/h and 267.4nSv/h at the ground floor and eight floor, respectively. The annual indoor and outdoor mean effective dose for a 1000hour working period was calculated as 0.32 μSv and 0.35 μSv at the ground floor and 0.68 μSv and 0.76 μSv the 8th floor, respectively (for inside and outside the building).