NMS Air Filter Data Dictionary

Air Volume (m3)
The total volume of air that is drawn through the air sampler during the total collection time, in units of cubic metres.

Becquerel (Bq)
The International System of units (SI) for radioactivity, used to measure the rate of radioactive decay.  One becquerel is defined as one decay per second.

Beryllium (7Be)
Beryllium (7Be) is a naturally occurring radionuclide that is produced in the earth’s upper atmosphere when cosmic rays bombard oxygen and nitrogen.

Cesium (134Cs)
Cesium (134Cs) is a fission product with a half-life of 2.06 years.  134Cs decay is accompanied by beta particle and gamma ray emission.  134Cs can be present in the environment as a nuclear fission product.

Cesium (137Cs)
Cesium (137Cs) is a fission product with a half-life of 30.17 years.   137Cs decay is accompanied by strong gamma ray emission.  137Cs can be present in the environment as a nuclear fission product.

Collection Start (UTC)
The date the air filter was installed in the air sampler for collection, in Coordinated Universal Time.  The format is in yyyy-mm-dd.

Collection Time (s)
The total time of sampling when air is being drawn through the air sampler, in units of seconds.

Iodine (131I)
Iodine (131I) has a half-life of eight days and can be present in the environment as a nuclear fission product.

Lead (210Pb)
Lead (210Pb) is a naturally occurring radioisotope that results from the decay of uranium found in the earth’s crust.

Location
The air particulate monitoring stations are located across Canada.   There are 28 stations, past and current, in the data spreadsheet.

mBq/m3
Milli-becquerel per cubic metre.  The units used to report radioactivity concentration in air.

MDC
Minimum detectable concentration.   The smallest concentration of radioactivity that can be reliably detected in a sample, for a given time of measure.

Uncertainty
The amount the calculated value may vary from the true value.




References
Environmental Radioactivity in Canada 1997-2009.  2013, Radiation Surveillance Division, Health Canada: Ottawa, Ontario
Health Canada.  Canadian Radiological Monitoring Network. [Cited 2014-01-08].  Available from: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/contaminants/radiation/crmn-rcsr/index-eng.php
United States Environmental Protection Agency.  Cesium.  [Cited 2014-01-08].  Available from:  http://www.epa.gov/radiation/radionuclides/cesium.html