Deployment of portable, modular gas samplers as part of an atmospheric tracer experiment

Abstract

Underground nuclear explosions release noble gases into the atmosphere that can be detected to support international monitoring efforts. Atmospheric transport models help predict the movement of these gases over long distances, but struggle to predict the movement in the atmosphere local to the release. A field experiment was designed to monitor the movement of ¹²⁷Xe within a 5-km radius. Four gas samplers were deployed as part of this experiment to collect atmospheric samples at various distances from the release point. These samples were then analyzed in a near-field lab using a NaI(Tl) detector and in an off-site lab using gamma-gamma coincidence and beta-gamma coincidence counting.

Keywords: Atmospheric transport modeling; Noble gas sampling; Radioxenon.