title: Estimating the terrestrial gamma dose rate by decomposition of the ambient dose equivalent rate.
abstract: An extensive network of dose rate monitoring stations continuously measures ambient dose rate across Europe, as part of the EURDEP system. Its purpose is early warning in radiological emergencies and documenting its temporal and spatial evolution. In normal conditions, when there is no contribution to the dose rate signal coming from fresh anthropogenic contamination, the data represent the radiation "background", i.e. the combined natural radiation and existing anthropogenic contamination (by global and Chernobyl fallout). These data are being stored, but have so far not been evaluated in depth, or used for any purpose. In the framework of the EU project 'European Atlas of Natural Radiation' the idea has emerged to exploit these data for generating a map of natural terrestrial gamma radiation. This component contributes to the total radiation exposure and knowing its geographical distribution can help establishing local 'radiation budgets'. A further use could be found in terrestrial dose rate as a proxy of the geogenic radon potential, as both quantities are related by partly the same source, namely uranium content of the ground. In this paper, we describe in detail the composition of the ambient dose equivalent rate as measured by the EURDEP monitors with respect to its physical nature and to its sources in the environment. We propose and compare methods to recover the terrestrial component from the gross signal. This requires detailed knowledge of detector response. We consider the probes used in the Austrian, Belgian and German dose rate networks, which are the respective national networks supplying data to EURDEP. It will be shown that although considerable progress has been made in understanding the dose rate signals, there is still space for improvement in terms of modelling and model parameters. An indispensable condition for success of the endeavour to establish a Europe-wide map of terrestrial dose rate background is progress in harmonising the European dose rate monitoring network.
authors.affiliation: German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), Berlin, Munich, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bossew
authors.affiliation: European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements, Ispra, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cinelli
authors.affiliation: European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements, Ispra, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hernández-Ceballos
authors.affiliation: Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cernohlawek
authors.affiliation: Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Vienna and Linz, Austria.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gruber
authors.affiliation: Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC), Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dehandschutter
authors.affiliation: Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC), Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Menneson
authors.affiliation: German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), Berlin, Munich, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bleher
authors.affiliation: German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), Berlin, Munich, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Stöhlker
authors.affiliation: German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), Berlin, Munich, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hellmann
authors.affiliation: German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), Berlin, Munich, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Weiler
authors.affiliation: European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements, Ispra, Italy.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tollefsen
authors.affiliation: European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements, Ispra, Italy.
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Tognoli
authors.affiliation: European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements, Ispra, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Cort
mesh_terms: D001317:Austria; D001417:Background Radiation; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005720:Gamma Rays; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Ambient dose equivalent rate; Terrestrial gamma radiation; Time series