Title: Preliminary study of effect of environmental parameter variations on indoor radon concentrations in Mediterranean climate

Authors: Mounir Aït-Ziane; Zohra Lounis-Mokrani; Malika Allab

Addresses: Laboratoire de Dosimetrie, Centre de Recherche Nucleaire d'Alger, B.P. 399 Alger R.P., Draria, Alger, Algiers, Algeria ' Laboratoire de Dosimetrie, Centre de Recherche Nucleaire d'Alger, B.P. 399 Alger R.P., Draria, Alger, Algiers, Algeria ' Laboratoire SNIRM, Université des Sciences et de la Technologie Houari Boumedienne, B.P. 32 EL ALIA, Bab Ezzouar, Algiers, Algeria

Abstract: For the radon map elaboration, radon measurements are generally performed in different seasons. Correction factors must be applied in order to represent comparable concentrations. The effects of environmental parameters have been investigated for the determination of these seasonal correction factors. Radon concentration measurements have been performed in several locations in Algiers over more than 17 seasonal periods. The average concentrations showed that the daily maximum appears in the early morning and the daily minimum in the late afternoon. Furthermore, the indoor radon concentration negatively correlates with both the indoor temperature and the relative humidity with correlation coefficients equal respectively to −0.22 and −0.31. The annual pattern features a maximum around December and a minimum around June.

Keywords: radon; Mediterranean climate; seasonal radon variation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLR.2019.103343

International Journal of Low Radiation, 2019 Vol.11 No.2, pp.115 - 131

Received: 09 Oct 2018
Accepted: 14 Mar 2019
Published online: 04 Nov 2019 *

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