Atmospheric residence time of (210)Pb determined from the activity ratios with its daughter radionuclides (210)Bi and (210)Po

The residence time of (210)Pb created in the atmosphere by the decay of gaseous (222)Rn is a key parameter controlling its distribution and fallout onto the landscape. These in turn are key parameters governing the use of this natural radionuclide for dating and interpreting environmental records stored in natural archives such as lake sediments. One of the principal methods for estimating the atmospheric residence time is through measurements of the activities of the daughter radionuclides (210)Bi and (210)Po, and in particular the (210)Bi/(210)Pb and (210)Po/(210)Pb activity ratios. Calculations used in early empirical studies assumed that these were governed by a simple series of equilibrium equations. This approach does however have two failings; it takes no account of the effect of global circulation on spatial variations in the activity ratios, and no allowance is made for the impact of transport processes across the tropopause. This paper presents a simple model for calculating the distributions of (210)Pb, (210)Bi and (210)Po at northern mid-latitudes (30°-65°N), a region containing almost all the available empirical data. By comparing modelled (210)Bi/(210)Pb activity ratios with empirical data a best estimate for the tropospheric residence time of around 10 days is obtained. This is significantly longer than earlier estimates of between 4 and 7 days. The process whereby (210)Pb is transported into the stratosphere when tropospheric concentrations are high and returned from it when they are low, significantly increases the effective residence time in the atmosphere as a whole. The effect of this is to significantly enhance the long range transport of (210)Pb from its source locations. The impact is illustrated by calculations showing the distribution of (210)Pb fallout versus longitude at northern mid-latitudes.

Excess of ²¹⁰polonium activity in the surface urban atmosphere. Part (1) fluctuation of the ²¹⁰Po excess in the air

The concentrations of (210)Pb, (210)Bi, and (210)Po in the urban atmosphere of Lodz city were measured from February 2010 to May 2010 and from May 2011 to April 2012. The seasonal changes in the activity ratios for (210)Po/(210)Pb and (210)Bi/(210)Pb indicated that the observed fluctuations were independent of the concentration of tropospheric (210)Pb and its decay products, particularly (210)Po. A simple calculation method was proposed for the estimation of the excess of (210)Po in urban aerosols in relation to the fraction of its activity formed from (210)Pb. On the basis of the results obtained, it was concluded that a substantial part of the (210)Po in urban air did not come from the decay of atmospheric (222)Rn, but rather it was from artificial sources. The highest levels of measured total (210)Po activity were observed during the winter period. This observation suggests that the main source of (210)Po in the investigated region could be related to anthropogenic emissions from domestic heating systems and local coal power plants, rather than from other sources, such as soil resuspension or stratospheric air intrusion as usually suggested in the literature.

Residence time of tropospheric aerosols in association with radioactive nuclides

The residence time of atmospheric aerosol particles is a function of various removal processes, such as dry deposition by impaction, diffusion, sedimentation and resuspension as well as wet deposition by rain drops (precipitation scavenging). Estimation of the mean-residence time of atmospheric aerosols could be based on measurements of the activities and ratios of activities of cosmic-ray produced radionuclides, such as (7)Be and the radioactive decay products of radon-222 emanated from soil into the atmosphere, such as (210)Pb, (210)Bi and (210)Po. It was found that a mean value of about 8 days could be applied to aerosol particles in the lower atmosphere below precipitation cloud levels as resulted by the application of two different methods, i.e. the (7)Be-associated atmospheric aerosols and the radon decay product aerosols at two different locations, i.e. at Thessaloniki, Greece 40 degrees 38'N 22 degrees 58'E with dry (precipitation free) climate and at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA 35 degrees 58'N 84 degrees 17'W with high precipitation (wet climate), roughly at similar temperate latitudes, but the first one at East longitude and the other at West longitude, respectively.

Seasonal variations of aerosol residence time in the lower atmospheric boundary layer

During a one year period, from Jan. 2002 up to Dec. 2002, approximately 130 air samples were analyzed to determine the atmospheric air activity concentrations of short- and long-lived (222Rn) decay products 214Pb and 210Pb. The samples were taken by using a single-filter technique and gamma-spectrometry was applied to determine the activity concentrations. A seasonal fluctuation in the concentration of 214Pb and 210Pb in surface air was observed. The activity concentrations of both radionuclides were observed to be relatively higher during the winter/autumn season than in spring/summer season. The mean activity concentration of 214Pb and 210Pb within the whole year was found to be 1.4+/-0.27 Bq m(-3) and 1.2+/-0.15 mBq m(-3), respectively. Different 210Pb:214Pb activity ratios during the year varied between 1.78 x 10(-4) and 1.6 x 10(-3) with a mean value of 8.9 x 10(-4) +/- 7.6 x 10(-5). From the ratio between the activity concentrations of the radon decay products 214Pb and 210Pb a mean residence time (MRT) of aerosol particles in the atmosphere of about 10.5+/-0.91 d could be estimated. The seasonal variation pattern shows relatively higher values of MRT in spring/summer season than in winter/autumn season. The MRT data together with relative humidity (RH), air temperature (T) and wind speed (WS), were used for a comprehensive regression analysis of its seasonal variation in the atmospheric air.

Uranium and thorium series radionuclides in rainwater over several tropical storms

The activity concentrations of uranium and thorium series radionuclides were measured in rainwater samples from 16 storms in northern Australia. For six of these storms, sequential intra-storm samples were collected. The results indicate that a substantial fraction of the measured activity concentrations of 238U, 234U, 230Th, 226Ra and, to a lesser extent, 210Po were due to below-cloud washout of dust transported from the nearby Ranger uranium mine. For the six intra-storm studies, the concentrations of these dust-related radionuclides decreased to one half or less of their initial value after the first one to two millimetres of rainfall, although in some cases they later increased when the rainfall intensity reduced. Most of the 210Pb activity appears to have been sourced from in-cloud rainout, although below-cloud washout was probably responsible for significant reductions in concentrations observed over the course of three of the six storms. 210Pb residence times based on the 210Pb-210Po couple varied significantly from storm to storm, but relatively little over the course of each of the six storms studied in detail. This implies that, apart from the initial reduction in below-cloud washout, there was no substantial change in the source air mass for the 210Pb during these storms.