Sources and Measurements of Radon and Radon Progeny Applied to Climate and Air Quality Studies. Proceedings of a Technical Meeting

The naturally occurring radionuclide radon (222Rn), together with its radioactive progeny (in particular 210Pb), have been widely used to study a variety of atmospheric processes and to test and validate comprehensive global chemical transport models. In recent years, a particularly important application has been found in estimating regional scale greenhouse gas emissions. Several time series datasets have been collected of 222Rn and 210Pb concentrations in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) for a variety of purposes related to climate and air quality. An example of such a data collection is the use of radon monitors as a part of the World Meteorological Organization's Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) network. Unfortunately, the effective use of radionuclide observations is presently limited by the accuracy of source functions used by models, and by a globally uncoordinated approach to measurements, data archiving and data quality assurance, especially in relation to radon exhalation. In June 2009 a Technical Meeting on Sources and Measurements of Radon and Radon Progeny Applied to Climate and Air Quality Studies was held in Vienna, Austria. The meeting was organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The meeting brought together scientists and engineers who are involved in one or more of the following: measurements and modeling of radon exhalation flux densities from the Earth's surface, measurement of atmospheric radon and radon progeny concentrations, and/or development and use of atmospheric transport models. A major focus of the meeting was on moving towards agreed approaches to estimating radon exhalation flux densities, and to improving quality assurance of measurements both of radon exhalation flux densities and of concentrations of radon and radon progeny in the atmosphere. This is in the frame of the IAEA programme 'Protection of the Marine and Terrestrial Environments' in which the transfer and behaviour of radionuclides and non-radioactive pollutants in the marine as well as terrestrial environment are investigated to develop and improve transfer models used for impact assessments with environmental issues. This publication brings together summaries of the three individual sessions of the meeting, as well as individual papers by participants.