A map of radon flux at the Australian land surface

Abstract

A time-dependent map of radon-222 flux density at the Australian land surface has been constructed with a spatial resolution of 0.05° and temporal resolution of one month. Radon flux density was calculated from a simple model utilising data from national gamma-ray aerial surveys; modelled soil moisture, available from 1900 in near real-time; and maps of soil properties. The model was calibrated against a data set of accumulation chamber measurements, thereby constraining it with experimental data. A notable application of the map is in atmospheric mixing and transport studies which use radon as a tracer, where it is a clear improvement on the common assumption of uniform radon flux density.