Injected radiotracer techniques in hydrology

Radioactive tracers which have several advantages over conventional tracers made significant contributions to the development of the injected tracer method in hydrology. A review of the nuclear and the physico-chemical characteristics of the possible radiotracer compounds leads us to conclude that the most effective groundwater tracers are tritiated water (HTO),⁸²Br⁻ and⁵⁸Co or⁶⁰Co as a hexacyanocobaltate complex. A discussion of the various case studies in India and abroad covering the three groups of applications mentioned helps us to conclude that well established radiotracer methods with associated interpretational techniques are available for many short range studies in surface and subsurface hydrology.