Application Of Transport Models Research Articles

A study of the combined impact of boundary layer height and near-surface meteorology on the CO diurnal cycle at a low mountaintop site using simultaneous lidar and in-situ observations

Evaluations of air pollutants and trace gas measurements over mountaintop sites and their application in inverse transport models to estimate regional scale fluxes are oftentimes challenging due to the influences associated with atmospheric transport at both local and regional scales. The objective of this study is to investigate the diurnal cycle pattern of CO mixing ratio over a low mountaintop influenced by: (1) two different convective boundary layer (CBL) regimes (shallow and deep) and associated growth rates over the mountaintop, (2) the combined effect of a deep CBL with and without diurnal wind shift, and (3) slope flows and associated air mass transport. For this purpose, we used simultaneous measurements of lidar-derived CBL heights, standard meteorological variables, and CO2 and CO mixing ratio from Pinnacles, a mountaintop monitoring site in the Appalachian Mountains. We used both water vapor and CO2 mixing ratio as tracers for upslope flow air masses. We used case studies to focus on two different scenarios of daytime CO mixing ratio variability: (1) a gradual increase in the morning with a maximum in the afternoon, and (2) a gradual decrease in the morning with a minimum in the late afternoon. The second scenario is similar to the CO variability observed atop tall towers in flat terrain.Using the lidar-derived CBL height evolution and in situ CO, CO2 and meteorological measurements over the mountaintop, we found that the CBL height dynamics, regional scale wind shift, and upslope flow air masses arriving at the mountaintop in the morning affect the CO mixing ratio variability during the remaining part of the diurnal cycle. These findings help introduce a conceptual framework that can explain and differentiate the opposite patterns (i.e. daytime increase versus daytime decrease) in the CO diurnal cycles over a mountaintop site affected by upslope flows and provide new roadmaps for monitoring and assimilating trace gas mixing ratios into applications requiring regionally-representative measurements.

A pollution fate and transport model application in a semi-arid region: Is some number better than no number?

Fate and transport models are powerful tools that aid authorities in making unbiased decisions for developing sustainable management strategies. Application of pollution fate and transport models in semi-arid regions has been challenging because of unique hydrological characteristics and limited data availability. Significant temporal and spatial variability in rainfall events, complex interactions between soil, vegetation and topography, and limited water quality and hydrological data due to insufficient monitoring network make it a difficult task to develop reliable models in semi-arid regions. The performances of these models govern the final use of the outcomes such as policy implementation, screening, economical analysis, etc. In this study, a deterministic distributed fate and transport model, SWAT, is applied in Lake Mogan Watershed, a semi-arid region dominated by dry agricultural practices, to estimate nutrient loads and to develop the water budget of the watershed. To minimize the discrepancy due to limited availability of historical water quality data extensive efforts were placed in collecting site-specific data for model inputs such as soil properties, agricultural practice information and land use. Moreover, calibration parameter ranges suggested in the literature are utilized during calibration in order to obtain more realistic representation of Lake Mogan Watershed in the model. Model performance is evaluated using comparisons of the measured data with 95%CI for the simulated data and comparison of unit pollution load estimations with those provided in the literature for similar catchments, in addition to commonly used evaluation criteria such as Nash-Sutcliffe simulation efficiency, coefficient of determination and percent bias. These evaluations demonstrated that even though the model prediction power is not high according to the commonly used model performance criteria, the calibrated model may provide useful information in the comparison of the effects of different management practices on diffuse pollution and water quality in Lake Mogan Watershed.

Economic Impacts of Introducing Tolls for Heavy-Goods Vehicles

This paper focuses on the wider economic and environmental impacts of introducing or expanding road toll systems for heavy-goods vehicles in selected Spanish provinces and how these impacts compare with those of the German toll system. For this purpose, literature and statistical analyses are supported by applications of the European system dynamics model, ASTRA-EC, and stakeholder interviews. The main conclusions of this study are that positive as well as negative impacts of road pricing systems are often overestimated. Enhancing the environmental friendliness of truck fleets through differentiated tariffs and the generation of additional funds for roads and other investments are positive arguments for toll systems. However, the review of existing systems and transport model applications showed limited to negligible effects on the competitiveness of the transport sector, logistics patterns, modal shares, and wider economic impacts with the current charge levels in Germany and Spain. Some specific user groups, such as small- and medium-sized transport enterprises based in peripheral locations, would face considerable difficulties. The success of newly revised truck tolling regimes depends heavily on local conditions, the design of tariffs, the revenues spent, and active participation by stakeholders.

Applicability of bed load transport models for mixed‐size sediments in steep streams considering macro‐roughness

AbstractIn steep mountain streams, macro‐roughness elements typically increase both flow energy dissipation and the threshold of motion compared to lower‐gradient channels, reducing the part of the flow energy available for bed load transport. Bed load transport models typically take account of these effects either by reducing the acting bed shear stress or by increasing the critical parameters for particle entrainment. Here we evaluate bed load transport models for mixed‐size sediments and models based on a median grain size using a large field data set of fractional bed load transport rates. We derive reference shear stresses and bed load transport relations based on both the total boundary shear stress and a reduced (or “effective”) shear stress that accounts for flow resistance due to macro‐roughness. When reference shear stresses are derived from the total boundary shear stress, they are closely related to channel slope, but when they are derived from the effective shear stress, they are almost invariant with channel slope. The performance of bed load transport models is generally comparable when using the total shear stress and a channel slope‐related reference shear stress, or when using the effective shear stress and a constant reference shear stress. However, dimensionless bed load transport relations are significantly steeper for the total stress approach, whereas they are similar to the commonly used fractional Wilcock and Crowe (WC) transport model for the effective stress approach. This similarity in the relations allows the WC model, developed for lower‐gradient streams, to be used in combination with an effective shear stress approach, in steep mountain streams.

Screening tool to evaluate the vulnerability of down-gradient receptors to groundwater contaminants from uncapped landfills

A screening tool for quantifying levels of concern for contaminants detected in monitoring wells on or near landfills to down-gradient receptors (streams, wetlands and residential lots) was developed and evaluated. The tool uses Quick Domenico Multi-scenario (QDM), a spreadsheet implementation of Domenico-based solute transport, to estimate concentrations of contaminants reaching receptors under steady-state conditions from a constant-strength source. Unlike most other available Domenico-based model applications, QDM calculates the time for down-gradient contaminant concentrations to approach steady state and appropriate dispersivity values, and allows for up to fifty simulations on a single spreadsheet. Sensitivity of QDM solutions to critical model parameters was quantified. The screening tool uses QDM results to categorize landfills as having high, moderate and low levels of concern, based on contaminant concentrations reaching receptors relative to regulatory concentrations.The application of this tool was demonstrated by assessing levels of concern (as defined by the New Jersey Pinelands Commission) for thirty closed, uncapped landfills in the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, using historic water-quality data from monitoring wells on and near landfills and hydraulic parameters from regional flow models. Twelve of these landfills are categorized as having high levels of concern, indicating a need for further assessment. This tool is not a replacement for conventional numerically-based transport model or other available Domenico-based applications, but is suitable for quickly assessing the level of concern posed by a landfill or other contaminant point source before expensive and lengthy monitoring or remediation measures are taken. In addition to quantifying the level of concern using historic groundwater-monitoring data, the tool allows for archiving model scenarios and adding refinements as new data become available.

Estudo da sinterização de nanopartículas por microscopia eletrônica de transmissão in situ

<p>O controle e o entendimento do processo de sinterização é de grande destaque científico e tecnológico devido à inerente dependência entre as características de um material e sua micro/nanoestrutura. Entretanto, o crescente controle na produção de nanopartículas trouxe novos desafios à sinterização, especialmente na aplicação dos modelos clássicos de transporte de massa. Diante desses desafios, técnicas <italic>in situ</italic>de caracterização têm surgido para a investigação de processos físicos e químicos durante sua ocorrência, em especial a sinterização. Dentre essas técnicas, a microscopia eletrônica de transmissão <italic>in situ</italic> mostra-se um importante método na investigação do processo de sinterização pela visualização direta dos fenômenos envolvidos. Nesse trabalho é exposto a potencialidade da técnica pelo estudo da sinterização de nanopartículas de CeO<sub>2</sub> por microscopia eletrônica de transmissão <italic>in situ</italic> com a análise dos fenômenos de densificação, orientação cristalográfica e ligantes nas superfícies dessas partículas.</p>

Cellular Automata for Simulation of PCE Degradation in Subsurface Media

The contaminant that is being released into the subsurface environment undergoes interactions with water and soil particles. The flow and transport processes in subsurface media are intricately connected at various scales of space, time, transport coefficient sand molecular concentration. The uncertainty existing in the field parameters limits the application of reactive transport models at microscopic level. The difference in scale can be well defined using the intermediate scale called mesoscopicscale, which is between microscopic and macroscopic description Cellular Automata(CA) is a mesoscopic approach to comprehend the emergence of macroscopic phenomena. This is done by modelling the microscopic dynamics through simple rules which as similates all the basic physics and chemistry requirements in terms of conservation laws, symmetry properties, reaction mechanisms etc. CA simulation is free of round-offerrors since it deals with the number of states which are integers and this advantage can be used when non-linear reaction terms are used. This approach captures the inherent microscopic properties by applying macroscopic parameters. In this paper, CA was applied to simulate Perchloroethylene (PCE) degradation in subsurface media and the results were compared with analytical solution. It was observed to have good agreement between model results and analytical results.

Analysis of Uncertainties Affecting Numerical Transport Models for a Potential Radioactive Waste Disposal Site

Numerical models have been commonly used to study solute transport behaviours both in laboratory-and field-scale cases. However, numerical interpretation and predictions of solute transport are complicated by various uncertainties and therefore can be misleading and lead to incorrect understanding of solute transport behaviours in hydrogeological systems. Such uncertainties have been discussed with a case study of radionuclides transport at a potential site for disposal of Low-and Intermediate-Level radioactive Wastes (LILW) in southern China. Firstly, pre-modelling assumptions cause uncertainties for model performance and have a significant influence on the model output. Therefore, such assumptions and related factors should be thoroughly considered and minimized in laboratory experiments or investigated in the field. Secondly, difference in the calculated plumes caused by uncertainties in the development of conceptual models suggests that the hydrogeological conceptual model should be developed based on intrinsic understanding of the transport problems and relevant data collection. Thirdly, relative sensitivity (RS) has been calculated to analyse the parameter uncertainties. Results indicate that the uncertainties are tracer-, parameter-and time-dependent. Therefore, model uncertainties arising from parameters should be considered for each specific parameter with the specific period. Finally, prediction scenarios are associated with uncertainties in the model prediction stage. Results suggest that the uncertainties in scenarios of future transport conditions should be recognized prior to model prediction. This study illustrates some of the uncertainties that might affect numerical transport models and therefore will be a useful reference for application of solute transport models to assessment of contamination risks from a LILW disposal site.

Using predictive uncertainty analysis to optimise tracer test design and data acquisition

Summary Tracer injection tests are regularly-used tools to identify and characterise flow and transport mechanisms in aquifers. Examples of practical applications are manifold and include, among others, managed aquifer recharge schemes, aquifer thermal energy storage systems and, increasingly important, the disposal of produced water from oil and shale gas wells. The hydrogeological and geochemical data collected during the injection tests are often employed to assess the potential impacts of injection on receptors such as drinking water wells and regularly serve as a basis for the development of conceptual and numerical models that underpin the prediction of potential impacts. As all field tracer injection tests impose substantial logistical and financial efforts, it is crucial to develop a solid a-priori understanding of the value of the various monitoring data to select monitoring strategies which provide the greatest return on investment. In this study, we demonstrate the ability of linear predictive uncertainty analysis (i.e. “data worth analysis”) to quantify the usefulness of different tracer types (bromide, temperature, methane and chloride as examples) and head measurements in the context of a field-scale aquifer injection trial of coal seam gas (CSG) co-produced water. Data worth was evaluated in terms of tracer type, in terms of tracer test design (e.g., injection rate, duration of test and the applied measurement frequency) and monitoring disposition to increase the reliability of injection impact assessments. This was followed by an uncertainty targeted Pareto analysis, which allowed the interdependencies of cost and predictive reliability for alternative monitoring campaigns to be compared directly. For the evaluated injection test, the data worth analysis assessed bromide as superior to head data and all other tracers during early sampling times. However, with time, chloride became a more suitable tracer to constrain simulations of physical transport processes, followed by methane. Temperature data was assessed as the least informative of the solute tracers. However, taking costs of data acquisition into account, it could be shown that temperature data when used in conjunction with other tracers was a valuable and cost-effective marker species due to temperatures low cost to worth ratio. In contrast, the high costs of acquisition of methane data compared to its muted worth, highlighted methanes unfavourable return on investment. Areas of optimal monitoring bore position as well as optimal numbers of bores for the investigated injection site were also established. The proposed tracer test optimisation is done through the application of common use groundwater flow and transport models in conjunction with publicly available tools for predictive uncertainty analysis to provide modelers and practitioners with a powerful yet efficient and cost effective tool which is generally applicable and easily transferrable from the present study to many applications beyond the case study of injection of treated CSG produced water.

On the range of validity of the Exner-based models for mobile-bed river flow simulations

The limits of applicability of sediment transport models based on the Exner equation are studied by means of a systematic eigenvalue analysis and numerical simulations. An accurate and efficient numerical model for sediment transport modelling in variable section prismatic channels is introduced. The limits proposed by the authors in previous work, consisting in a 1% upper bound for the sediment concentration, are confirmed and validated. Above this value, the Exner-based model leads to significant differences with respect to heavy sediment transport models, even if concentration values higher than this threshold arise only locally.

The measuring of radon volumetric activity and exhalation rate in ground-level air

The physical and chemical characteristics of radon gas make it a good tracer for use in the application of atmospheric transport models. Radon exhalation rate from soil is one of the most important factors for evaluation of the environmental radon level. For this purpose to find out the volumetric activity of radon in ground-level air the measuring has been made using radon monitor SARAD RTM 2200. Radon volumetric activity and radon exhalation rate in ground-level air and at different depths of soil depending on soil temperature and atmospheric parameters in different seasons of the year was calculated and evaluated in two areas of Vilnius city. It has been established that the volumetric activity of radon and radon exhalation intensity is vertically distributed and the corresponding increase in deeper soil layers, and depends on the specific activity of radium, soil temperature and moisture content, temperature difference between soil and atmospheric temperatures.

Applicability of Macroscopic Transport Models to Decananometer MOSFETs

We perform a comparative study of various macroscopic transport models against multisubband Monte Carlo (MC) device simulations for decananometer MOSFETs in an ultra-thin body double-gate realization. The transport parameters of the macroscopic models are taken from homogeneous subband MC simulations, thereby implicitly taking surface roughness and quantization effects into account. Our results demonstrate that the drift-diffusion (DD) model predicts accurate drain currents down to channel lengths of about 40 nm but fails to predict the transit frequency below 80 nm. The energy-transport (ET) model, on the other hand, gives good drain currents and transit frequencies down to 80 nm, whereas below 80 nm, the error rapidly increases. The six moments model follows the results of MC simulations down to 30 nm and outperforms the DD and the ET models.

Assessment of Impacts and Risks of Air Pollution Applying Two Strategies of Numerical Chemistry Transport Modelling

Assessment of harmful impacts and risks of air pollution in case of accidents as well as of long lasting exposition is an important challenge of chemical transport modeling. Sad confirmation of this statement unexpectedly has come from the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima which occurred while this paper was finalized. Two strategies to comply with the task of impact and risk assessment in extended regions like Central Europe or the Balkans are described. The first one is characterized by application of a single model system to an extended domain. The other one is based on the combined application of several chemical transport models designed for the use in various sub-domains in the region under consideration. Advantages and disadvantages exist for both approaches. For instance, the single model strategy allows unified and harmonized assessment of risks in a larger region, whereas the combined model strategy may pro-vide faster and locally more specific response in emergency cases. The single model approach is treated exploiting applications of the EURAD model system. The combined model approach is a novel way of joint use of chemical transport model systems developed for the Balkans. The models are described and the accuracy of simulations carried out with them is briefly demonstrated by comparison of simulated and observed concentrations of air pollutants. Applications regarding the search of sources for high pollution events and the assessment of risks through known sources are exem-plarily discussed.

Practice of Mass Transport Model Application for Biogeochemical Redox Process in Aquifer

Biogeochemical reduction processes are active in alluvial aquifers, because organic carbon which is indispensable for bacteria growth is abundant. As a result of reduction process, significant changes of groundwater quality take place; denitrification, reduction of manganese dioxide, iron-hydroxide, sulfate, arsenate, and methane are well known as reduction processes in an anaerobic groundwater condition. Therefore, the prediction of redox environment in an aquifer is a key subject in order to understand how the groundwater quality is affected. If the mechanism of groundwater quality formation in aquifer scale is systematically understood, impacts caused by accidents or illegal dumping can be predicted, and subsequently, an appropriate management of aquifer will be established. In the present paper, quantitative discussions are made by the numerical simulations applied for the one-dimensional column experiment and two-dimensional fresh-salt water mixing zone. Recommendation and the future subject are presented through the results of two numerical simulations.

Improving the description of the suspended particulate matter concentrations in the southern North Sea through assimilating remotely sensed data

The integration of remote sensing data of suspended particulate matter (SPM) into numerical models is useful to improve the understanding of the temporal and spatial behaviour of SPM in dynamic shelf seas. In this paper a generic method based on the Ensemble Kalman Filtering (EnKF) for assimilating remote sensing SPM data into a transport model is presented. The EnKF technique is used to assimilate SPM data of the North Sea retrieved from the MERIS sensor, into the computational water quality and sediment transport model, Delft3D-WAQ. The satellite data were processed with the HYDROPT algorithm that provides SPM concentrations and error information per pixel, which enables their use in data assimilation. The uncertainty of the transport model, expressed in the system noise covariance matrix, was quantified by means of a Monte Carlo approach. From a case study covering the first half of 2003, it is demonstrated that the MERIS observations and transport model application are sufficiently robust for a successful generic assimilation. The assimilation results provide a consistent description of the spatial-temporal variability of SPM in the southern North Sea and show a clear decrease of the model bias with respect to independent in-situ observations. This study also identifies some shortcomings in the assimilated results, such as over prediction of surface SPM concentrations in regions experiencing periods of rapid stratification/de-stratification. Overall this feasibility study leads to a range of suggestions for improving and enhancing the model, the observations and the assimilation scheme.

Applicability of sediment transport models to evaluate medium term evolution of tidal inlet systems

This paper derives local formulae to estimate bed roughness and suspended transport and present a method to calculate net sediment transport at tidal inlet systems, combining field data and a range of well established empirical formulations. To accomplish this, measurements spanning a spring-tidal cycle of mean water levels, waves, near-bed flow turbulence and bed forms were obtained from the Ancão Inlet, Ria Formosa lagoon system, Portugal. High-resolution hydrodynamic data were gathered using acoustic equipments and by measuring sediment properties (grain-size diameter and bed form dimensions) under fair-weather conditions. The results compared favourably with available direct and indirect field observations of sediment transport rates. The approach appears to be robust and widely applicable and so can be applied to the same conditions in any tidal inlet system. This is of particular importance when attempting to understand sediment transport at inlet mouths, and has practical applications in a range of coastal engineering and coastal management areas concerned with navigation safety, coastal erosion, ecosystem health and water quality. The study discusses the applicability of the method on evaluating system flushing capacity, giving important insights on multiple inlet evolution, particularly with regard to their persistence through time. The methodological framework can be applied to assess the long-term stability of single- and multiple-inlet systems, provided that estimates of sediment storage at ebb-tidal deltas are available and sediment transport estimates during storm events are statistically considered.

Distinguishing Boron Desorption from Mineral Dissolution in Arid‐Zone Soils

Boron release from six arid‐zone soil samples from the San Joaquin Valley of California was investigated as a function of reaction time, solution pH, and suspension density. A multiple batch extraction experiment was performed for 362 d to distinguish B desorption from B released from mineral dissolution. Amounts of B released decreased rapidly and reached a low constant value after about 6 mo of reaction time. Slopes of the B release curves for the last eight extractions approached zero (constant release rate), indicating that this B release was from mineral dissolution. We also did a shorter term experiment that contained added Mg and silicate in solution. These experiments were conducted to evaluate the contribution of B release from dissolution of B‐containing Mg silicate minerals. We determined that most of the B released from the soils can be attributed to release from sorption sites rather than resulting from dissolution of B‐containing Mg silicates. Various B soil tests were evaluated for their ability to measure native extractable adsorbed B. The diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA)–sorbitol extract was the best measure of available adsorbed B but still only extracted 48% of the amount of B released in the long‐term experiment. The greatest amount of B was extracted at the lowest suspension density for DTPA–sorbitol (92%) and phosphate buffer pH 6.6 (95%). These extractants are recommended for quantifying native extractable adsorbed B, which must be considered in application of chemical speciation transport models to describe B movement in soils. Incorporation of our results will allow improved predictions of soil solution B concentrations under diverse agricultural and environmental conditions.

Equilibrium modeling of U(VI) speciation in high carbonate groundwaters: Model error and propagation of uncertainty

► Propagation of uncertainty in uranium speciation is examined by derivative and Monte Carlo methods. ► Predictions of solution speciation are robust with minimal amplification of input uncertainty. ► Predictions of sorption equilibria at low total U(VI) are not robust, with bimodal distributions of predicted speciation. Remediation of U-contaminated sites relies upon thermodynamic speciation calculations to predict U(VI) movement in the subsurface. However, reliability and applicability of geochemical speciation and reactive transport models may be limited by determinate (model) errors and random (uncertainty) errors in the equilibrium speciation calculations. This study examines propagated uncertainty in two types of subsurface calculations: I. Dissolved U(VI) speciation based on measured analytical constraints and solution phase equilibria and II. Overall U(VI) speciation which combined the dissolved phase equilibria with previously published adsorption reactions. Three levels of uncertainty, instrumental uncertainty, temporal variation and spatial variation across a site, were investigated using first-derivative sensitivity calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. Dissolved speciation calculations were robust, with minimal amplification of uncertainty and normal output distributions. The most critical analytical constraints in the dissolved system are pH, DIC, total U and total Ca, with some effect from dissolved SO 4 2 - . When considering adsorption equilibria, calculations were robust with respect to adsorbed U(VI) concentration prediction, but bimodal distributions of dissolved U(VI) concentrations were observed in simulations with background levels of total U(VI) and higher (spatial and temporal variability) estimates of input uncertainty. Consequently, sorption model predictions of dissolved U(VI) may not be robust with respect these higher levels of uncertainty.

Development and validation of a size-resolved particle dry deposition scheme for application in aerosol transport models

Abstract. A size-resolved particle dry deposition scheme is developed for inclusion in large-scale air quality and climate models where the size distribution and fate of atmospheric aerosols is of concern. The "resistance" structure is similar to what is proposed by Zhang et al. (2001), while a new "surface" deposition velocity (or surface resistance) is derived by simplification of a one-dimensional aerosol transport model (Petroff et al., 2008b, 2009). Compared to Zhang et al.'s model, the present model accounts for the leaf size, shape and area index as well as the height of the vegetation canopy. Consequently, it is more sensitive to the change of land covers, particularly in the accumulation mode (0.1–1 micron). A drift velocity is included to account for the phoretic effects related to temperature and humidity gradients close to liquid and solid water surfaces. An extended comparison of this model with experimental evidence is performed over typical land covers such as bare ground, grass, coniferous forest, liquid and solid water surfaces and highlights its adequate prediction. The predictions of the present model differ from Zhang et al.'s model in the fine mode, where the latter tends to over-estimate in a significant way the particle deposition, as measured by various investigators or predicted by the present model. The present development is thought to be useful to modellers of the atmospheric aerosol who need an adequate parameterization of aerosol dry removal to the earth surface, described here by 26 land covers. An open source code is available in Fortran90.

Inter-comparison of different direct and indirect methods to determine radon flux from soil

The physical and chemical characteristics of radon gas make it a good tracer for use in the application of atmospheric transport models. For this purpose the radon source needs to be known on a global scale and this is difficult to achieve by only direct experimental methods. However, indirect methods can provide radon flux maps on larger scales, but their reliability has to be carefully checked. It is the aim of this work to compare radon flux values obtained by direct and indirect methods in a measurement campaign performed in the summer of 2008. Different systems to directly measure radon flux from the soil surface and to measure the related parameters terrestrial γ dose and 226Ra activity in soil, for indirect estimation of radon flux, were tested. Four eastern Spanish sites with different geological and soil characteristics were selected: Teruel, Los Pedrones, Quintanar de la Orden and Madrid. The study shows the usefulness of both direct and indirect methods for obtaining radon flux data. Direct radon flux measurements by continuous and integrated monitors showed a coefficient of variation between 10% and 23%. At the same time, indirect methods based on correlations between 222Rn and terrestrial γ dose rate, or 226Ra activity in soil, provided results similar to the direct measurements, when these proxies were directly measured at the site. Larger discrepancies were found when proxy values were extracted from existing data bases. The participating members involved in the campaign study were the Institute of Energy Technology (INTE) of the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), Huelva University (UHU), and Basel University (BASEL).