Calibration of a field-portable gamma detector to obtain in situ measurements of the 137Cs inventories of cultivated soils and floodplain sediments

Abstract

Over the past 10 years, a number of studies have exploited the potential for using measurements of fallout 137Cs inventories to document rates and patterns of soil erosion on cultivated land and to estimate rates of overbank sedimentation on river floodplains. Traditional procedures for applying the 137Cs technique involve the collection of soil or sediment cores from a study site and their subsequent transfer to the laboratory for preparation and analysis by gamma spectrometry. Such procedures are time consuming and there may be a considerable delay before the results are available. It is therefore difficult to obtain preliminary results, which could be used to guide the development of an ongoing sampling programme. The use of in situ gamma spectrometry measurements to quantify 137Cs inventories in soils and sediments offers a number of potential advantages over traditional procedures. However, in order to derive a reliable estimate of the 137Cs inventory for a measurement point, it is necessary to take account of the attenuation of 137Cs gamma rays by the soil matrix and information on the depth distribution of 137Cs in the soil or sediment is therefore required. In the present study, empirical relationships between in situ measurements of 137Cs activity and total 137Cs inventories have been established for soils from a cultivated field and for floodplain sediments, based on information on the vertical distribution of 137Cs in the soils and sediments provided by the forward scattering ratio derived from the field measured spectra. These relationships have been used to estimate 137Cs inventories from in situ measurements of 137Cs activity at other locations.