Contribution of the Photonic Component to the Ionization of the Atmosphere by Earth Crust Radionuclides and Radioactive Emanations

Abstract

We investigate the contribution of gamma radiation of natural radionuclides constituting the Earth crust, radioactive emanations, and their decay product in the ground to the rate of production of ion pairs in the atmosphere against the background of ionization of the atmosphere by radioactive gases exhaled to the atmosphere from the ground and propagating together with their short-lived daughter products. The radon flux density to the atmosphere is estimated by three methods: the reservoir method, the integration of altitude profiles of volume activity of radon, based on gamma spectroscopic observations and the diffusion model. The distribution of the gamma radiation dose from the earth radionuclides in the soil and the atmosphere is calculated using Gleant4 software. The propagation of the radon isotopes and their decay products in the atmosphere is calculated simulated using large eddy simulation supplemented with kinematic simulation of subgrid flux of a passive scalar. It is shown that depending on the specific activity of radionuclides in the ground, the soil parameters, and the turbulent regime of the atmosphere, the total contribution of gamma radiation to the ion pair production rate in the atmospheric boundary layer is approximately from 1 to 20% and increases upon a decrease in the penetrability of the upper ground layer for radioactive emanations.