title: A probabilistic description of radioactive contamination: a multivariate model.
abstract: A multivariate discrete probability model is used to facilitate the description of gamma-ray spectroscopic data obtained from radioactively contaminated territory, east of the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan. Two possible estimators of probabilities of interest have been considered: maximum likelihood and unbiased estimators. We show that unbiased estimators are much easier to compute. The model was used in two variants: (i) several radionuclides in spatially independent measurements, (ii) a single radionuclide in spatially dependent measurements. We show that, in both cases, it is important to take into account the correlation for the accurate evaluation of probabilities of interest.
authors.affiliation: Université Bordeaux 2, France.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Nikulin
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Novak
authors.forename: T I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Smirnov
authors.forename: V G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Voinov
authors.forename: G I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Krasnov
mesh_terms: D005720:Gamma Rays / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D007623:Kazakhstan; D015233:Models, Statistical; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009689:Nuclear Warfare; D011847:Radioactive Fallout / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D012449:Safety; D013051:Spectrometry, Gamma
chemical_list: D011847:Radioactive Fallout