@article{10902/36056,
year = {2024},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10902/36056},
abstract = {The protection of first responders from radioactive contamination with alpha emitters that may result from a radiological accident is of great complexity due to the short range of alpha particles in the air of a few centimeters. To overcome this issue, for the first time, a system mounted on a UAS for the near-real-time remote measurement of alpha particles has been developed, tested, and calibrated. The new system, based on an optical system adapted to be installed on a UAS in order to measure the UV-C fluorescence emitted by alpha particles in the air, has been tested and calibrated, carried out in the laboratory and in field experiments using UV-C LEDs and 241Am sources. In experimental flights, the probability of detecting a point source was determined to be approximately 60%. In the case of a surface extended source, a detection efficiency per unit surface activity of 10 counts per second per MBq cm?2 was calculated. A background count rate of UV-C of around 26 ± 28 s1 for an integration time of 0.1 s was measured during flights, which led to a decision threshold surface activity of 5 MBq cm2},
organization = {Funding: The project 19ENV02 RemoteALPHA has received funding from the European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR), co-financed by the Participating States and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. Funder ID is:10.13039/100014132.},
publisher = {MDPI},
publisher = {Remote Sensing, 2024, 16(5), 848},
title = {The mapping of alpha-emitting radionuclides in the environment using an unmanned aircraft system},
author = {Royo, Pablo and Vargas, Arturo and Guillot, Tania and Saiz, David and Pichel, Jonathan and Rábago Gómez, Daniel and Duch, María Amor and Grossi, Claudia and Luchkov, Maksym and Dangendorf, Volker and Krasniqi, Faton},
}