Concentrations of 222 Rn, Its Short-Lived Daughters And 212 Pb And Their Ratios Under Complex Atmospheric Conditions And Topography

Atmospheric activity concentrations of ²¹²Pb and short-lived ²²²Rndaughters, together with meteorological elements, have been observed continuously atthree sites at Kamisaibara Village in Japan. In addition, atmospheric activity concentrationof ²²²Rn, equilibrium-equivalent concentration of ²²²Rn and conditionsof the lower atmosphere were observed for three intensive observation periods at Akawase,one of the three sites in Kamisaibara Village. The equilibrium-equivalent concentration of²²²Rn is almost the same as the atmospheric activity concentration of short-lived²²²Rn daughters.The activity concentrations of ²¹²Pb and the short-lived ²²²Rn daughtersand their ratio were low in the daytime owing to convective mixing, and high at nightowing to the surface-based inversion during periods of no precipitation. Their variationshave several patterns corresponding to the scale of the drainage wind or weak mixing.Mechanical mixing due to strong winds through both day and night during the first andsecond observation periods made the atmospheric activity concentrations of ²¹²Pb and the short-lived ²²²Rn daughters continuously low. However, their ratios werecontinuously high during the first period yet continuously low during the second period.This difference can be explained by the effect ofextraction of ²²⁰Rn and ²²²Rndue to strong winds and snow cover. There were also cases in which the ratio of theatmospheric activity concentration of ²¹²Pb to that of the short-lived ²²²Rndaughters at night was equal to or less than the ratio in the daytime. Thisinverse trend, asin the periods of no precipitation mentioned above, is considered to be due to near-neutralconditions on these nights.We find a difference in the ratio of the equilibrium-equivalent concentration of²²²Rn (the activity concentration of short-lived ²²²Rn daughters) tothe activity concentration of ²²²Rn during the first observation period and thatduring the second. The difference can be explained by snow cover on the ground. Wealso find differences among the ratios of the activity concentration of the short-lived²²²Rn daughters to that of ²²²Rn during the three observation periods.These differences can be explained by the submergence of paddy fields.