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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Index Terms

  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Biosphere/atmosphere interactions
  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Constituent sources and sinks
  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere: constituent transport and chemistry

Abstract

Inter- and intra-continental transport of radioactive cesium released by boreal forest fires

G. Wotawa

CTBTO Preparatory Commission, Provisional Technical Secretariat, Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria

L.-E. De Geer

CTBTO Preparatory Commission, Provisional Technical Secretariat, Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria

A. Becker

CTBTO Preparatory Commission, Provisional Technical Secretariat, Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria

R. D'Amours

Canadian Meteorological Centre, Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada, Dorval, Quebec, Canada

M. Jean

Canadian Meteorological Centre, Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada, Dorval, Quebec, Canada

R. Servranckx

Canadian Meteorological Centre, Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada, Dorval, Quebec, Canada

K. Ungar

Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

A high-precision radionuclide monitoring site was established in Yellowknife/Canada in 2003. Far away from nuclear activities, regular signals of 137Cs were found there during the summers of 2003 and 2004. We show that these signals can be explained by transport from fires burning in the boreal forests of North America and Asia. This finding has important implications. It demonstrates that 137Cs deposited world-wide from past nuclear testing is re-injected into the atmosphere by combustion to a significant extent and on a large scale, and is subsequently transported across great distances. Besides this, the analysis shows how efficiently a new receptor-oriented atmospheric transport modeling technique can be used to check whether a 3D emission inventory is consistent with discrete point measurements.

Received 3 March 2006; accepted 8 May 2006; published 23 June 2006.

Citation: Wotawa, G., L.-E. De Geer, A. Becker, R. D'Amours, M. Jean, R. Servranckx, and K. Ungar (2006), Inter- and intra-continental transport of radioactive cesium released by boreal forest fires, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L12806, doi:10.1029/2006GL026206.

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