Speaker
Description
Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are increasingly used in a wide range of domains, including radiation monitoring in the environment for geological as well as emergency response application. Advances in battery technology, precise positioning systems, and sensor performance, together with the development of regulatory frameworks facilitating beyond visual line-of-sight operations, have made UAS attractive to an expanding community of users. However, bridging the gap between ground measurements and large-area aerial surveys using manned aircraft brings a new set of challenges related to data processing and interpretation.
Four reference sites for aerial unmanned radiometric survey have recently been established in the Czech Republic, providing a comprehensively described physical environment for benchmarking and intercomparison of UAS-borne radiometric systems and data processing methodologies and software tools. Each site features a distinct ratio of K-40, U-238, Th-232, and Cs-137 concentrations and suitable conditions for ground and aerial intercomparison measurements. Two water bodies were selected for determination of instrument background and the contribution of cosmic radiation.
Characteristics of the sites and temporal variations of the on-site conditions were assessed in a three year campaign of repeated in-situ measurements. Ground and aerial gamma spectrometric measurements were complemented by environmental monitoring – measurements of soil water content using TDR and radon in the air. Samples from the top soil layer and from depth-profiles were analyzed using laboratory HPGe spectrometry, providing an absolute baseline for the in-situ measurements.
This contribution will detail the site properties for prospective users from Czech Republic as well as the international community, results of the three year monitoring including time variations, the influence of environmental factors and the experience gained in the process.
This work is co-financed from the state budget by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic and Ministry of the Environment under the Environment for life Programme within the project SS06010467.