Abstract
The seasonal variation of the 7Be activities in air and the size distribution of the 7Be aerosols were studied by using a continuous air sampler and a five stage cascade impactor. The mean monthly activity level of 7Be at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) site varied from 0.5 to 4.8 Bq·m−3 and revealed a seasonal variation, in which the 7Be activity levels were high in winter and low in summer. The mass size distribution showed a bi-modal distribution with a higher peak around 0.49 μm and a smaller peak between 3 μm and 7.2 μm. The activity median aerodynamic diameter (AMAD) decreased with increasing ambient 7Be concentrations. The mean residence times by using a mean growth rate of 0.004 μm·h−1 were estimated to be 2.5–6.4 days. The AMAD has an increasing tendency with higher relative humidity. It seemed that the high humidity condition facilitated the growth of the aerosol, resulting in increased deposition rates of the aerosols and the low 7Be content in the surface air. The AMAD of the 7Be aerosols increased with an increasing temperature, but the temperature dependency of AMAD should be explained with geological and meteorological conditions.
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Cho, Y.H., Lee, W., Chung, K.H. et al. Seasonal variation and activity size distribution of 7Be in ambient air. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 274, 531–538 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-006-6948-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-006-6948-3