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Characterization of the “bGeigie Nano” instrument used in Citizen Science dose-rate monitoring

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Abstract

Safecast, a Citizen Science project devoted to monitoring ambient dose rate, initiated in Japan 2011 after the Fukushima NPP accident and soon spread worldwide. Its standard instrument is bGeigie Nano, featuring a pancake-type thin-window GM-sensor coupled to a GPS receiver and data-storage, in a sturdy plastic case allowing field use. Recorded ADR tracks are shown on a publicly accessible map on Safecast.org, containing almost 200 M records by 2022. Interpretability of results depends on quality assurance of the measurement process, covering both metrological characterization of the instrument and its practical use—relevant because users are citizens in general not familiar with metrological procedures, measurement statistics, the concept of representativeness, etc. Here we focus on the former aspect. In field use, the source of GM response is internal background (BG), ambient gamma-rays and secondary cosmic radiation (SCR). Through dedicated experiments, mainly performed on lakes (where the terrestrial gamma component is largely absent), we quantified the BG and SCR response and investigated the variance of response between instruments. We investigated conformity to count-rates Poisson statistics and the occurrence of spurious extreme signals, which can lead to artefacts in ADR maps. Impact of experimental results on practice and uncertainties are discussed.

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Data availability

Some data generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Notes

  1. kind assistance of M. Laubenstein, INFN, is greatly acknowledged!

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the very useful hints by one reviewer.

Funding

This research was funded by institutional support provided by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Radiation Protection Institute (SÚRO), Prague, Czech Republic

    P. Kuča & J. Helebrant

  2. Bundesamt Für Strahlenschutz, Berlin, Germany

    P. Bossew

Authors
  1. P. Kuča
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  2. J. Helebrant
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  3. P. Bossew
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Correspondence to P. Kuča.

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Kuča, P., Helebrant, J. & Bossew, P. Characterization of the “bGeigie Nano” instrument used in Citizen Science dose-rate monitoring. Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 232, 1465–1475 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-023-00877-7

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