Environmental radiation dosimetry at high southern latitudes with Liulin type instruments

International audience Because of the geomagnetic field shape, the polar regions are the most exposed to secondary particles and radiation produced by primary cosmic rays in the atmosphere. At present, only few experimental measurements of environmental dose are reported in literature at high southe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Environmental Radioactivity
Main Authors: Zanini, Alba, Vernetto, Silvia, Ciancio, Vicente, Di Giovan, Gustavo, Morfino, Paolo, Liberatore, Alessandro, Giannini, Gianrossano, Hubert, Guillaume
Other Authors: Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Torino (INFN, Sezione di Torino), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino (OATo), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Universidad Nacional de la Plata Argentine (UNLP), Dipartimento di Fisica Torino, Università degli studi di Torino = University of Turin (UNITO), Università degli studi di Trieste = University of Trieste, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste (INFN, Sezione di Trieste), ONERA / DPHY, Université de Toulouse Toulouse, ONERA-PRES Université de Toulouse
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02885852
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2019.105993
Description
Summary:International audience Because of the geomagnetic field shape, the polar regions are the most exposed to secondary particles and radiation produced by primary cosmic rays in the atmosphere. At present, only few experimental measurements of environmental dose are reported in literature at high southern latitudes. A three year campaign has been carried out in two different locations, Ushuaia (Argentina, 54.80∘ S, 68.30∘ W) and Marambio (Antarctica, 64.24∘ S, 56.63∘ W), using a Liulin type detector, allowing to measure the total environmental radiation flux and dose. The Liulin type instrument, measuring the energy deposition in a silicon detector, is especially suitable to evaluate the dose, separating the low and high LET (Linear Energy Transfer) components. The instrument was installed at the GAW Station in Ushuaia and inside the LAMBI Laboratory at the Marambio Antarctic base. In December 2017 preliminary measurements have been carried out at the French-Italian base Dome C, at 3233 m a.s.l., with a Liulin-AR, a new version of Liulin spectrometer, specifically built for this application by the Space Research and Technology Institute of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In this paper the environmental dose values obtained in the different southern high latitude locations are compared and discussed.