Radon Stripping – Test-Lines

The Radon Stripping – Test-Lines tool calculates the radon stripping coefficients used by both the Spectral-Ratio and Upward-Detector methods for estimating atmospheric radon background. It also calculates the Spectral-Ratio method "c1" coefficient and the Upward-Detector "au" coefficient. The tool uses the daily test lines flown at the start and end of each day. The test line is about 8 km long and is flown twice a day to monitor environmental changes, such as soil moisture, and as a final check on the sensitivity of the detector. If we assume that the soil moisture content is constant, and since aircraft and cosmic background are constant for a particular altitude, then the difference between any two lines is due to changes in atmospheric radon. The tool uses the test lines by calculating the difference between whole-line spectra recorded on high and low radon days to estimate a radon spectrum, from which the coefficients are derived. To use this tool:

• Set the aliases and parameters – File|Set Aliases and Parameters.
• Click Calculate to run the tool.
• View the log file File|View User Log File to see the results.

Quick Link: Descriptions of the aliases and parameters used by this tool can be found in the spectral-ratio C1 control file.

See Tutorial 7: Radon Stripping – Test-Lines Calibration for a tutorial on the use of this tool.