Assessment of Primordial Radionuclides in Pakistani Red Bricks and Associated Radiation Doses

Specific activity of primordial radionuclides and associated radiation hazards due to 40K, 226Ra, and 232Th have been measured in backed red brick samples, collected from five highly populated areas of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. For the detection, analysis and data acquisition, a high purity germanium detector was used. Associated external doses were calculated using a Monte Carlo neutron photon transport code. A theoretical model to determine the gamma dose rate at 1 m height from the floor, made of bricks, was employed for the calculation of mass attenuation coefficient and self-absorption in the floor for the gamma energies of these radionuclides and their progeny. Monte Carlo simulation shows that in this study the floor, having more than an effective thickness of 15 cm, contributes very little to the external gamma dose rate. The values of the external dose rate and annual effective dose are found to be much lower than the world average as well as from other countries of the world.

Radioactivity Levels and Gamma-Ray Dose Rate in Soil Samples from Kohistan （Pakistan） Using Gamma-Ray Spectrometry

The analysis of naturally occurring radionuclides （226Ra, 232 Th and 40 K） and an anthropogenic radionuclide 13r Cs is carried out in some soil samples collected from Kohistan district of N.W.F.P. （Pakistan）, using gamma-ray spectrometry. The gamma spectrometry is operated using a high purity Germanium （HPGe） detector coupled with a computer based high resolution multi channel analyzer. The specific activity in soil ranges from 24.72 to 78.48Bq.kg-1 for 22TRa, 21.73 to 75.28Bq.kg- 1 for 232Th, 7.06 to 14.9Bq.kg 1 for 1arcs and 298.46 to 570.77Bq.kg-1 for 40K with the mean values of 42.11, 43.27, 9.5 and 418.27Bq.kg-1, respectively. The radium equivalent activity in all the soil samples is lower than the safe limit set in the OECD report （370 Bq.kg-1）. Man-made radionuclide 13r Cs is also present in detectable amount in all sell samples. Presence of 13r Us indicates that the samples in this renlote area also recelvo some fallout from nuclear accident in Chernobyl power plant in 1986. The internal and external hazard indices have the mean values of 0.48 and 0.37 respectively. Absorbed dose rates and effective dose equivalents are also determined for the samples. The concentration of radionuclides found in the soil samples during the present study is nominal and does not pose any potential health hazard to the general public.

Analysis of Detectors and Transmission Curve Correction of Mobile Rayleigh Doppler Wind Lidar

A mobile molecular Doppler wind lidar （DWL） based on double-edge technique is presented for wind measurement at altitudes from 10 km to 40 km. A triple Fabry-Perot etalon is employed as a frequency discriminator to determine the Doppler shift proportional to the wind velocity. The lidar operates at 355 nm with a 45-cm aperture telescope and a matching azimuth-over-elevation scanner that can provide full hemispherical pointing. In order to guarantee the wind accuracy, different forms of calibration function of detectors in different count rates response range would be especially valuable. The accuracy of wind velocity iteration is improved greatly because of application of the calibration function of linearity at the ultra low light intensity especially at altitudes from 10 km to 40 km. The calibration functions of nonlinearity make the transmission of edge channel 1 and edge channel 2 increase 38.9% and 27.7% at about 1 M count rates, respectively. The dynamic range of wind field measurement may also be extended because of consideration of the response function of detectors in their all possible operating range.

Information Feedback Strategies in a Signal Controlled Network with Overlapped Routes

We investigate the effects of four different information feedback strategies on the dynamics of traffic, travelers＇ route choice and the resultant system performance in a signal controlled network with overlapped routes. Simulation results given by the cellular automaton model show that the system purpose-based mean velocity feedback strategy and the congestion coefficient feedback strategy have more advantages in improving network utilization efficiency and reducing travelers＇ travel times. The travel time feedback strategy and the individual purposed-based mean velocity feedback strategy behave slightly better to ensure user equity.

Composite Scattering from the Electrically Very Large Ship-Sea Model Using the Hybrid High-Frequency Method

A hybrid high-frequency method is proposed to analyze the bistatic electromagnetic scattering of the ship target on a very large two-dimensional randomly rough sea surface. The scattering of the ship-sea model is evaluated with the method of equivalent currents （MEC）. The iterative physical optics method （IPO） is utilized to study the electromagnetic coupling effect caused by the hull and rough surface. The shadowing correction based on the Z-Buffer technology is introduced to eliminate the effects of the irrelevant scattering resources. The validity of the hybrid method is confirmed by the SAR simulation results and the scattering property of the ship-sea model is discussed.

现代地球科学研究测控技术——中国科学院院士叶叔华研究员接受本刊专访

2012年8月8日上午,本刊编委、上海市地质调查研究院副总工程师方正教授,上海市地质调查研究院地质环境监测站技术负责熊福文高级工程师,本刊编辑部主任、上海市地质调查研究院总工程师办公室副主任龚士良教授,在中国科学院上海天文台拜访了中国科学院院士叶叔华研究员,并代表《上海国土资源》期刊进行了专题访谈。叶院士充分肯定和高度评价上海城市地质工作及为城市发展作出的贡献;介绍了空间测控技术的最新进展,指出我国相关领域的科技进步与应用具有自身特色,在数字地球的建设中扎实推进且富有成效;希望上海继续重视城市环境地质工作,并由陆地向海域发展;建议地面沉降监测可借鉴更精确的LIDAR技术,同时选择代表性基准点进入全球联网,以促进国际交流与全球合作。