Analysis for distribution estimation of soil radon concentration and its influencing factors: A case study in decommissioned uranium mill tailings pond
Hong Wang, Runcheng He, Changshou Hong, Bo Lei, Xiangyang Li, Shengyang Feng, Caiwu Luo, Yong Liu
Abstract
The present study focuses on the distribution law of soil radon concentration and its influencing factors under natural conditions. Field investigation of the radon concentration, temperature, soil moisture and salinity at different depths (20–80 cm) of beach surface of a decommissioned uranium mill tailings pond in southern China have been conducted. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient (PCC) and Grey Relation Analysis (GRA) models were adopted to linear/nonlinear analyze the correlation of radon concentration with soil depth, temperature, moisture and salinity. The results of PCC model show that the correlations of radon concentration along with soil moisture, temperature and soil depth are more significant than that of salinity, which is consistent with the results of GRA model on the whole. The correlation of soil moisture on radon concentration distribution was slightly greater than that of soil temperature.