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Cosmic-ray-produced and artificial sodium 22 in the atmosphere

1965; American Geophysical Union; Volume: 70; Issue: 18 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1029/jz070i018p04447

2156-2202

Walter Rödel,

Atmospheric Ozone and Climate

The concentration of radioactive Na22 was measured in rain and ground-level air continuously from spring 1962 until fall 1964. Procedures for measuring Na22 are described. The concentration of Na22 in ground-level air varied from 1.4×10−4 to 11.9×10−4 dpm/m3, the concentration in rainwater from 0.065 to 1.02 dpm/l. Na22 is produced by cosmic rays which induce spallation of atmospheric argon. The measurements, however, have shown that Na22 is also produced by nuclear weapons tests. The observed Na22 fallout at Heidelberg was in 1963 about twenty times, and in 1964 about eleven times the estimate of natural production. Some stratospheric air samples collected in spring 1964 showed a Na22 concentration increased by a factor of 10, compared with concentrations observed before the recent nuclear weapons tests.