Factorial kriging for estimating and mapping the geochemical background from in situ gamma dose rate measurements downstream of a former uranium mine

Autor: Pascale Blanchart, Alkiviadis Gourgiotis, Mathieu Le Coz, Arnaud Mangeret
Přispěvatelé: PSE-ENV/SEDRE/LELI, Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PSE-ENV/SEDRE/USDR
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity
Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Elsevier, 2021, 237, pp.106681. ⟨10.1016/j.jenvrad.2021.106681⟩
ISSN: 1879-1700
0265-931X
Popis: International audience; A geostatistical approach is applied for extracting the geochemical background from gamma dose rate data acquired downstream of a former French uranium mining area. The exploratory data analysis shows that the spatial structure of the gamma dose rate consists of two components: a short isotropic component (10 m-range) that corresponds to the geochemical background; and a long anisotropic component (30–60 m-range) that corresponds to the drainage network features previously fed by the mine discharge water. The gamma dose rate on the whole area of interest was estimated and simulated (to deal with uncertainties) through a kriging of the measured values. The spatial component related to the geochemical background was then extracted through factorial kriging. The proportion of the gamma dose rate explained by the geochemical background according to factorial kriging is consistent within uncertainties with geochemical analyses performed on soil and sediment samples. This study thus highlights the potential of such geostatistical approaches for better exploiting radiometric data.
Databáze: OpenAIRE