Diurnal variations of radon and meteorological variables near the ground

Radon is an excellent tracer for the study of transport processes in the lower atmospheric boundary layer. Analyses of the radon data measured on a 300-m meteorological tower at Philadelphia show that the diurnal variation of atmospheric turbulence is closely related to the meteorological variables. A model of variation of radon concentration with mean wind speed and low-level vertical temperature difference is derived. It indicates that radon concentration is inversely proportional to the mean wind speed and directly proportional to the temperature difference. These predictions are in good agreement with the measurements.