Effects of environmental factors on the monitoring of environmental radioactivity by airborne gamma-ray spectrometry

This study describes and discusses the results of a 14 month-long campaign (April 2019 to June 2020) aimed at characterizing and quantifying the influence of environmental factors (cosmic rays, rainfall events, soil moisture and atmospheric radon) on airborne radiometric surveys, which are used for mapping the concentrations of potassium (K), uranium (U) and thorium (Th), or for monitoring the natural radioactivity in the environment. A large NaI(Tl) airborne spectrometer (4 down + 1 up detectors of 4 L) was installed at a height of 50 m on a meteorological tower to simulate an airborne hover at the Pyrenean Platform for Observation of the Atmosphere (P2OA) in Lannemezan. The continuous, high frequency acquisition of gamma-rays was accompanied by measurements of rainfall intensity, soil moisture content, atmospheric radon activity and meteorological parameters. A semi-diurnal cycle of apparent 232Th and 40K was observed and explained by atmospheric thermal tides. Both diurnal and seasonal cycles are also evident in the gamma-ray signal, mostly due to variations of soil moisture at these timescales with a maximum during summer when surface soil moisture (0–5 cm depth) is the lowest. An increase of 25% vol. of the soil moisture content, representing the range of variation between the end of summer (18% vol.) and the beginning of spring (43% vol.) leads to a decrease of gamma-rays in the K and Th window by the same amount. Conversely, these results illustrate the potential of using airborne gamma-ray spectrometry to monitor soil moisture at hectometer scales. The washout of radon-222 progeny during rainfall events influences the count of gamma-rays in the U window by adding an atmospheric component to the soil component. The amplitude of the signal increase in the U window varies with the precipitation rate and reaches 30% for an average event. By clear weather, atmospheric radon-222 volumic activity influences the count rate in the U window by about ±3.8% per Bq m−3, which translates into an influence of 148%/Bq m−3/kg Bq−1 (U). This comprehensive, multi-compartment approach is necessary to optimize and improve the processing and analysis of airborne gamma-ray spectrometry data for high sensitivity environmental studies. These results show the importance of environmental factors on the variability of gamma-ray spectrometry and the importance of taking them into account to accurately map radionuclides activities.