Be-7 and Pb-210 in fallout and aerosols in 2000-2016 in central Europe - Deposition velocity and dependence on meteorological parameters

The main aim of this research was to determine the transport and deposition velocities of ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb based on a vast database containing the results of measurements of ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb in fallout and aerosol samples carried out at several stations located throughout Poland in the period from 2000 to 2016. The monthly deposition flux of ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb showed an unequivocal downward trend but was also subject to seasonal changes, with maximum values in the summer period. The same patterns were found in the case of the deposition rate, the average values of which were 0.7 cm s^-1 for ⁷Be and 0.5 cm s^-1 for ²¹⁰Pb. A strong, statistically significant dependence of the deposition rate on the amount of dust was demonstrated, whereby a 10 μg m^-3 decrease in dust increases the ⁷Be deposition rate by 0.1 cm s^-1. Reduction of the concentration of carrier particles reduces the share of dry deposition in favour of precipitation convection, which is much more significant for the transport of both isotopes to the surface. Study of the effect of meteorological parameters showed that the concentrations of ⁷Be in fallout and aerosol samples and ²¹⁰Pb in fallout increase with increasing temperature, indicating a significant share of convection processes in isotope transport. The concentrations of ²¹⁰Pb in aerosols did not show any significant statistical changes over time. Their maximum values were observed in the winter period, indicating an additional source of this isotope related to combustion processes in the heating season. The studies confirmed the dominant role of convective precipitation and large-scale precipitation processes in the elution of ⁷Be from the atmosphere by showing the monthly deposition of this isotope to be strongly dependent on the total precipitation (r = 0.618).

Unraveling the process of aerosols secondary formation and removal based on cosmogenic beryllium-7 and beryllium-10

The secondary formation and diffusion processes of aerosol are extraordinarily complex and significantly impact the environment and human health. Therefore, exploring the process of aerosol formation and diffusion based on independent new tracer has always been a concern. The ⁷Be and ¹⁰Be, which are generated only by the action of cosmic rays, are chemically stable and adsorbed on aerosol for transmission, so they have the potential characteristics of aerosol tracers. Here, we obtained the daily resolution atmospheric ⁷Be, ¹⁰Be, and ¹⁰Be/⁷Be without dust interference in Xi'an autumn and winter (heavy pollution period in a typical polluted area) by accelerator mass spectrometry. It is found that during the rapid formation of secondary aerosols (SA) under the stable ¹⁰Be/⁷Be ratio, which indicates the stable atmospheric vertical structure, the concentration of ⁷Be and ¹⁰Be is significantly negatively correlated (R² > 0.9) with the aerosol concentration. Therefore, SA relative content in aerosols can be estimated by the dilution amount of ⁷Be and ¹⁰Be to reveal the secondary-formation process of aerosol (33% average contribution to aerosols during the winter heavy air pollution period). Furthermore, we also revealed the physical removal process of aerosols based on ⁷Be, ¹⁰Be, and ¹⁰Be/⁷Be, including precipitation removal and diffusion of vertical atmospheric movement caused by stratospheric air intrusion. In summary, meteoric cosmogenic ⁷Be and ¹⁰Be will provide a new way to study the secondary chemical formation and physical removal of aerosols.

Correlations between 7Be, 210Pb, dust and PM10 concentrations in relation to meteorological conditions in northern Poland in 1998-2018

Analysis of a twenty-year (1998-2018) data series on ⁷Be concentrations in weekly collected aerosol samples in northern Poland showed a clear pattern of seasonal changes in ⁷Be with a maximum in the summer period associated with the most intensive thermal convection and vertical mixing. Activity concentrations of ⁷Be ranged from 480 μBq m^-3 to 9370 μBq m^-3. A strong relationship has been shown between ⁷Be concentrations observed in years and the activity of the Sun related to the sunspot number. Activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Pb in aerosol ranged from 17 μBq m^-3 to 1490 μBq m-3 with maximum occurring in the winter. The difference in the seasonal pattern in ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb concentrations were directly related to the different sources of both isotopes, as an additional source of ²¹⁰Pb was the products of combustion during the heating season. Similar pattern with maximum concentrations in winter was observed for PM10, as the main source is the same as in the case ²¹⁰Pb. A content of PM10 was in the range from 6.5 to 81.7 μg m^-3. A statistically significant correlation between both isotopes occurs. At the same time, ⁷Be, ²¹⁰Pb and PM10 are visibly related to the dust concentrations ranged from 7.3 μg m^-3 in winter to 134.8 μg m^-3 in spring. Statistical analysis carried out with simple regression model, stepwise multiple regression, and Random Forest models showed that the sunspots number, air temperature and sunshine duration have the most substantial impact on transport, and hence the concentration of ⁷Be in the surface layer of the atmosphere. The increase in relative humidity and precipitation and higher wind speed have a statistically significant effect on the reduction of ⁷Be concentrations in surface air.

Meteoric 10Be in aerosol filters in the city of Seville

Cosmogenic radionuclides in the one-million-year half-life range, like ¹⁰Be, find application fields in several Sciences. They are powerful tools in Geology and Geochronology, as they are very important tracers on the Earth, being utilized as chronometer. Meteoric ¹⁰Be (T_1/2 = 1.39 × 10⁶ y) associated to aerosols can be used as a tracer of atmospheric processes and specifically as indicators of the cosmogenic interactions in lower Stratosphere, upper Troposphere, the air exchange between both and deposition processes on the Earth surface. The applications of ¹⁰Be are even more relevant when combined with other radionuclides such as ²⁶Al. In order to provide new data about concentration ¹⁰Be in this type of samples, the first atmospheric air filters in Spain have been analysed. Values around 10⁴ at/m³ (atoms per cubic meter of air) for ¹⁰Be have been obtained. Due to the location and the features of the sampling site (urban area, at sea level and mid latitude), a new radiochemical procedure was designed and developed in our laboratory for the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) measurement of ¹⁰Be in this kind of samples. The samples were measured in SARA, the 1 MV AMS system at Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA).

IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements and Isotopes (IPTEI) for the Education Community (IUPAC Technical Report)

The IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) Periodic Table of the Elements and Isotopes (IPTEI) was created to familiarize students, teachers, and non-professionals with the existence and importance of isotopes of the chemical elements. The IPTEI is modeled on the familiar Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements. The IPTEI is intended to hang on the walls of chemistry laboratories and classrooms. Each cell of the IPTEI provides the chemical name, symbol, atomic number, and standard atomic weight of an element. Color-coded pie charts in each element cell display the stable isotopes and the relatively long-lived radioactive isotopes having characteristic terrestrial isotopic compositions that determine the standard atomic weight of each element. The background color scheme of cells categorizes the 118 elements into four groups: (1) white indicates the element has no standard atomic weight, (2) blue indicates the element has only one isotope that is used to determine its standard atomic weight, which is given as a single value with an uncertainty, (3) yellow indicates the element has two or more isotopes that are used to determine its standard atomic weight, which is given as a single value with an uncertainty, and (4) pink indicates the element has a well-documented variation in its atomic weight, and the standard atomic weight is expressed as an interval. An element-by-element review accompanies the IPTEI and includes a chart of all known stable and radioactive isotopes for each element. Practical applications of isotopic measurements and technologies are included for the following fields: forensic science, geochronology, Earth-system sciences, environmental science, and human health sciences, including medical diagnosis and treatment.

Circulation of cosmogenic 22Na using the global monitoring network of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO)

Using a recently published global data set of ²²Na and ⁷Be from the global monitoring network of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), atmospheric circulation and stratosphere-troposphere interactions are examined. Cosmogenic ²²Na has a half-life well-suited to environmental processes with durations from several months to a decade. Combined with corresponding ⁷Be observations, these two cosmogenic isotopes form a useful environmental tracer and new radiochronometer to study physical interactions of air masses in the stratosphere and troposphere.

Tritium in river waters from French Mediterranean catchments: Background levels and variability

Tritium background levels in various environmental compartments are deeply needed in particular to assess radiological impact, especially in river systems where most of releases from nuclear facilities are performed. The present study aims to identify the main environmental factors that influence tritium background levels in rivers at the regional scale. 41 samples were collected from 2014 to 2016 along 17 small rivers in the south of France. All were located out of the influence of direct releases from nuclear facilities. Tritiated water (HTO) concentrations measured in water samples ranged from 0.12±0.11 to 0.86±0.15BqL^-1 and HTO concentrations in rains were modelled between 2015 and 2016 over the study period referring to time series acquired from 1963 to 2014 at Thonon-les-Bains monitoring station. The results of tritium concentrations in rivers studied present a significant variability and are more than twice lower than forecasted values in rain. Multiple linear regressions allowed identifying that HTO concentration in rains, watershed area and altitude were the main tested parameters that are linked to the variability of HTO concentrations in the studied rivers. Finally, HTO fluxes delivered to the Mediterranean Sea by French coastal rivers out of influence of nuclear releases were estimated. The results highlight that those account for around 1% of HTO exported while 99% are transferred by the nuclearized Rhone River.

Chemical Mechanisms and Their Applications in the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) Earth System Model

NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) Earth System Model (ESM) is a modular, general circulation model (GCM), and data assimilation system (DAS) that is used to simulate and study the coupled dynamics, physics, chemistry, and biology of our planet. GEOS is developed by the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. It generates near-real-time analyzed data products, reanalyses, and weather and seasonal forecasts to support research targeted to understanding interactions among Earth System processes. For chemistry, our efforts are focused on ozone and its influence on the state of the atmosphere and oceans, and on trace gas data assimilation and global forecasting at mesoscale discretization. Several chemistry and aerosol modules are coupled to the GCM, which enables GEOS to address topics pertinent to NASA's Earth Science Mission. This paper describes the atmospheric chemistry components of GEOS and provides an overview of its Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF)-based software infrastructure, which promotes a rich spectrum of feedbacks that influence circulation and climate, and impact human and ecosystem health. We detail how GEOS allows model users to select chemical mechanisms and emission scenarios at run time, establish the extent to which the aerosol and chemical components communicate, and decide whether either or both influence the radiative transfer calculations. A variety of resolutions facilitates research on spatial and temporal scales relevant to problems ranging from hourly changes in air quality to trace gas trends in a changing climate. Samples of recent GEOS chemistry applications are provided.

Impact of air masses on the distribution of 210Pb in the southeast of Iberian Peninsula air

The current research has been developed in the southern of the Iberian Peninsula in order to better understand the atmospheric processes and also the influence of the air masses origin and pathways in the transport of ²¹⁰Pb-aerosols in the atmosphere. Simultaneous measurements of the radionuclides ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb on airborne have been routinely carried out at Granada (Spain 37.177N, 3.598 W, 687 m a.s.l.) from 2010 to 2014. The long term monitoring evolution on ²¹⁰Pb is discussed in this study and also the useful ratio ⁷Be/²¹⁰Pb. The maximum monthly activity concentration for ²¹⁰Pb at ground level in Granada was detected during summer and early autumn (September), whereas minimum activity was measured in the winter. The monthly mean activity concentration for ²¹⁰Pb was 617.8 ± 33.0 μBq·m^-3. The results show that the annual average ²¹⁰Pb concentrations in samples collected during the same period were almost constant. The lowest activity concentration for ²¹⁰Pb are associated with maritime air masses coming from Atlantic and Norwest of Spain, while the highest activity concentrations for this radiotracers were positively correlated with the arrival of mineral dust linked to continental air masses coming from Mediterranean, Africa and Local area. The concentrations values show a nice agreement with the relevant reported results.

Detection of deep stratospheric intrusions by cosmogenic 35S

The extent to which stratospheric intrusions on synoptic scales influence the tropospheric ozone (O₃) levels remains poorly understood, because quantitative detection of stratospheric air has been challenging. Cosmogenic ³⁵S mainly produced in the stratosphere has the potential to identify stratospheric air masses at ground level, but this approach has not yet been unambiguously shown. Here, we report unusually high ³⁵S concentrations (7,390 atoms m^-3; ∼16 times greater than annual average) in fine sulfate aerosols (aerodynamic diameter less than 0.95 µm) collected at a coastal site in southern California on May 3, 2014, when ground-level O₃ mixing ratios at air quality monitoring stations across southern California (43 of 85) exceeded the recently revised US National Ambient Air Quality Standard (daily maximum 8-h average: 70 parts per billion by volume). The stratospheric origin of the significantly enhanced ³⁵S level is supported by in situ measurements of air pollutants and meteorological variables, satellite observations, meteorological analysis, and box model calculations. The deep stratospheric intrusion event was driven by the coupling between midlatitude cyclones and Santa Ana winds, and it was responsible for the regional O₃ pollution episode. These results provide direct field-based evidence that ³⁵S is an additional sensitive and unambiguous tracer in detecting stratospheric air in the boundary layer and offer the potential for resolving the stratospheric influences on the tropospheric O₃ level.

Time lag between the tropopause height and ⁷Be activity concentrations on surface air

A strong positive correlation between the seasonal changes of the tropopause height and the concentration of (7)Be in the surface air (R = 0.94, p < 0.0001) was observed at 40°N. Moreover, a strong positive correlation was revealed between the activity concentrations of (7)Be and the temperature T (°C) (R = 0.97, p < 0.001), confirming that the increased rate of vertical transport within the troposphere, especially during warmer months, has as a result the descent to the surface of air masses enriched in (7)Be. The results of the present work suggest that the temperature and the tropopause height are good indicators for transport time of air masses enriched in (7)Be to the surface. Higher values of temperature or tropopause height seem to result to shorter transport times. This is attributed to atmospheric convection which provides an effective mechanism for vertical transport of air masses. Increasing tropospheric temperature has generally as a result that convection penetrates more deeply which in turn leads to an increase in tropopause height. But, the atmospheric procedures do not occur immediately after the fluctuations of correlated factors. Thus, a time lag is expected between the tropopause height and (7)Be activity concentrations on surface air that might be from hours to days or weeks. The result suggests that (7)Be concentrations fully respond within three days after the changes in the tropopause height.

Hadley cell influence on (7)Be activity concentrations at Australian mainland IMS radionuclide particulate stations

Beryllium-7 ((7)Be) daily data from the four International Monitoring System (IMS) radionuclide particulate stations on mainland Australia are analysed over the period 2001 to 2011. The analysis indicates that levels of (7)Be in surface air at the stations follow annual cycles, with yearly peak activity concentrations occurring later at stations further south. The yearly peak migrates north-south at a rate of approximately 4.4° latitude per month. The change in phase of the (7)Be annual cycle between the stations corresponds with the seasonal migration of the Southern Hemisphere Hadley cell across mainland Australia. The implication is that the changing position of the downward limb of the Southern Hemisphere Hadley cell regulates the phase of the annual cycle in (7)Be activity concentrations in surface air in the Australian region.

Radionuclides from the Fukushima accident in the air over Lithuania: measurement and modelling approaches

Analyses of (131)I, (137)Cs and (134)Cs in airborne aerosols were carried out in daily samples in Vilnius, Lithuania after the Fukushima accident during the period of March-April, 2011. The activity concentrations of (131)I and (137)Cs ranged from 12 μBq/m(3) and 1.4 μBq/m(3) to 3700 μBq/m(3) and 1040 μBq/m(3), respectively. The activity concentration of (239,240)Pu in one aerosol sample collected from 23 March to 15 April, 2011 was found to be 44.5 nBq/m(3). The two maxima found in radionuclide concentrations were related to complicated long-range air mass transport from Japan across the Pacific, the North America and the Atlantic Ocean to Central Europe as indicated by modelling. HYSPLIT backward trajectories and meteorological data were applied for interpretation of activity variations of measured radionuclides observed at the site of investigation. (7)Be and (212)Pb activity concentrations and their ratios were used as tracers of vertical transport of air masses. Fukushima data were compared with the data obtained during the Chernobyl accident and in the post Chernobyl period. The activity concentrations of (131)I and (137)Cs were found to be by 4 orders of magnitude lower as compared to the Chernobyl accident. The activity ratio of (134)Cs/(137)Cs was around 1 with small variations only. The activity ratio of (238)Pu/(239,240)Pu in the aerosol sample was 1.2, indicating a presence of the spent fuel of different origin than that of the Chernobyl accident.

The effect of air mass origin on the ambient concentrations of ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb in Islamabad, Pakistan

Concentration of radionuclides ²¹⁰Pb and ⁷Be, having half lives of 22.3 years and 53.29 days, respectively, in the surface air samples of Islamabad (33.38°N, 73.10°E and Altitude ∼536 m asl.) are measured. The non-destructive technique of gamma-spectrometry, with a high purity germanium HPGe detector, was employed for the analysis of all samples. The annual average concentrations of ²¹⁰Pb and ⁷Be in the surface air samples were determined as 0.284 ± 0.15 and 3.171 ± 1.14 mBq m⁻³, respectively. Our results have shown a seasonal variation of the concentration of ⁷Be in air samples with high values for the spring season. High concentrations for ²¹⁰Pb are obtained when air masses originate from plain areas of Pothohar region, located in the South-West, West and North West of Islamabad. Our values of concentrations show a nice agreement with the relevant reported results.

Temporal variation of (7)Be concentrations in atmosphere for 8y from 2000 at Yamagata, Japan: solar influence on the (7)Be time series

We have been continuously observing the daily (7)Be concentrations in surface air at Yamagata, Japan (38.25 degrees N, 140.35 degrees E) since 2000. The yearly profile of the (7)Be concentration indicates the variation in galactic cosmic rays owing to solar modulation. Over 8y, the (7)Be concentration, cosmic neutrons, and number of sunspots varied by 37.4%, 12.2%, and 92.8%, respectively. The influence of precipitation on the (7)Be variability was approximately 5%. Hence, the yearly (7)Be concentration was mainly varied by the solar modulation of the (7)Be production rates. Based on the production rates found in an EXPACS simulation, the observed variability indicates (7)Be transport from high latitudes. The daily (7)Be concentrations have two significant periodic components of 19d and 36d. The 36-d component implies a relationship between the sun's rotation and the vertical transport of air masses under quiet solar activity.

Describing the annual cyclic behaviour of 7Be concentrations in surface air in Oceania

Surface air concentrations of 7Be at a number of stations in Oceania show a distinct annual cycle. We apply a sinusoidal model to describe this cycle. The results show that peak 7Be concentrations in surface air occur during early spring at tropical latitudes and during mid-to-late summer at middle latitudes. Comparison with available 90Sr surface air data for the southern hemisphere indicates that stratosphere-to-troposphere exchange is an active atmospheric process controlling the 7Be annual cycle throughout the Oceania region. Vertical transport of air within the troposphere also seems to influence the observed annual cycle. Seasonality in rainfall is not thought to control the annual cyclic behaviour of 7Be in surface air.