Work

Quantifying nonstationary radioactivity concentration fluctuations near Chernobyl: A complete statistical description

Year: 2000

Type: article

Abstract: We analyze nonstationary 137Cs atmospheric activity concentration fluctuations measured near Chernobyl after the 1986 disaster and find three new results: (i) the histogram of fluctuations is well described by a log-normal distribution; (ii) there is a pronounced spectral component with period T=1yr, and (iii) the fluctuations are long-range correlated. These findings allow us to quantify two fundamental statistical properties of the data: the probability distribution and the correlation properties of the time series. We interpret our findings as evidence that the atmospheric radionuclide resuspension processes are tightly coupled to the surrounding ecosystems and to large time scale weather patterns.

Source: Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics

DOI: 10.1103/physreve.62.4389

Authors: G. M. Viswanathan, S. V. Buldyrev, E. K. Garger, V. A. Kashpur, L. S. Lucena, A. Shlyakhter, H. E. Stanley, J. Tschiersch

Institutions: Boston University, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences, Harvard University

Language: English

Topic: Radioactive contamination and transfer

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

OpenAlex ID: W2139125869

FWCI: 0.82

Cites: 14

Cited by: 9

Related to: 10