title: Definition of radon prone areas in Friuli Venezia Giulia region, Italy, using geostatistical tools.
abstract: Studying the geographical distribution of indoor radon concentration, using geostatistical interpolation methods, has become common for predicting and estimating the risk to the population. Here we analyse the case of Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG), the north easternmost region of Italy. Mean value and standard deviation are, respectively, 153 Bq/m(3) and 183 Bq/m(3). The geometric mean value is 100 Bq/m(3). Spatial datasets of indoor radon concentrations are usually affected by clustering and apparent non-stationarity issues, which can eventually yield arguable results. The clustering of the present dataset seems to be non preferential. Therefore the areal estimations are not expected to be affected. Conversely, nothing can be said on the non stationarity issues and its effects. After discussing the correlation of geology with indoor radon concentration It appears they are created by the same geologic features influencing the mean and median values, and can't be eliminated via a map-based approach. To tackle these problems, in this work we deal with multiple definitions of RPA, but only in quaternary areas of FVG, using extensive simulation techniques.
authors.affiliation: University of Trieste, Dept. of Physics, Trieste, Via A. Valerio 2, Italy. Electronic address: shinacronistic@gmail.com.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cafaro
authors.affiliation: BfS (German Federal Office for Radiation Protection), Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bossew
authors.affiliation: ARPA - FVG, Enviromental Radiation Lab., Udine, Via Tavagnacco 91, Italy. Electronic address: concettina.giovani@arpa.fvg.it.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giovani
authors.affiliation: ARPA - FVG, Enviromental Radiation Lab., Udine, Via Tavagnacco 91, Italy. Electronic address: massimo.garavaglia@arpa.fvg.it.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garavaglia
mesh_terms: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D062305:Geographic Mapping; D007558:Italy; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D011886:Radon / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D011886:Radon
keywords: Ecological modelling; Friuli Venezia Giulia region; Geostatistics; Indoor radon; Radon prone areas