Continuous measurement of radiation from radionuclides deposited on the ground using in situ gamma-ray spectrometry.

Until recently, in situ measurements in a network of radiation-measuring sites at the Deutscher Wetterdienst could only be started if all components had been put up in an instrumentation shelter and the detector had been cooled for ∼6 h. Within a project on partial automation of radioactivity monitoring, it has now become possible to permanently equip the measuring sites, i.e. the instrumentation shelter, with the components for in situ gamma-ray spectrometry. The cooling technology of the detectors changed from liquid nitrogen based to an electric system and the instrumentation shelters could be fixed with air conditioning to minimise the influence of changes in the outside temperature.