title: Accounting for 222Rn loss during oven drying for the immediate laboratory gamma-ray spectroscopy of collected soil samples.
abstract: Drying soil samples in an oven to remove water alters the 222Rn emanation rate. Measurements of the oven drying 222Rn emanation rate from soil were made with a continuous radon monitor and the degree of 222Rn disequilibrium was quantified by laboratory gamma-ray spectroscopy. This paper presents a disequilibrium correction where the 226Ra activity in oven-dried soil samples is inferred from immediate laboratory gamma-ray spectroscopy of 214Bi before 222Rn and its decay progeny reach secular equilibrium.
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan, Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, Ann Arbor 48109-2104, USA.
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Benke
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kearfott
mesh_terms: D005720:Gamma Rays; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D011886:Radon / Q000032:analysis*; D017687:Radon Daughters / Q000032:analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D017687:Radon Daughters; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D011886:Radon