Studies on radon in soil and its concentration in the atmosphere at Mysore

Studies on radon in soil as well its concentration in air were carried out around Mysore city (12 degN and 76 degE) using SSNTD technique. The variation of radon concentration in the soil gas in dry and wet conditions with depth was measured using the same technique. The radon exhalation rate in soil was estimated by the collection chamber method at the locations where radon was measured in the soil. The concentration of radon in soil, its exhalation rate and indoor/outdoor concentrations were observed to be high in high radium activity locations and low in low activity locations. The exhalation rate of radon in soil depends on geophysical and meteorological parameters and its concentration in the atmosphere near ground depends on exhalation rate, radium activity in the soil and meteorological parameters. The radon in soil gas is found to increase with increasing depth. (author)