Post-Chernobyl Radiocaesium in British Soil, Flora, and Fauna

Great Britain was surveyed for radiocaesium contamination following the 1986 Chernobyl accident. The dataset contains concentrations measured in soil, vegetation, wildlife, and fungi from national surveys in 1986-1987 and more intensive regional studies in Cumbria, Wales, and North Yorkshire from 1989 to 1997. This spatial and temporal data is described as suitable for interpolation and modeling.

Use Cases

• Modeling radiocaesium transfer through soil-plant-animal food chains based on concentration measurements.
• Creating interpolated contamination surfaces for specific regions like Cumbria or North Yorkshire.
• Analyzing temporal trends in environmental persistence from 1986 to 1997.
• Comparing contamination levels across different sample types (e.g., fungi vs. grass vs. grouse).

Strengths

• Provides multi-year temporal coverage from 1986 to 1997.
• Includes multiple sample matrices: soil, vegetation, wildlife, and fungi.
• Features both national-scale and intensive regional surveys in Cumbria, Wales, and Yorkshire.

Limitations

• Dataset is explicitly marked as withdrawn and not current on all platforms.
• Column names and specific row counts are unknown, limiting immediate analysis.
• License and author information are not provided in the available metadata.

Provenance

Source

Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), formerly the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE).

Collection Method

Surveys of samples collected throughout Great Britain and analyzed for radiocaesium concentrations.

Time Range

1986 to 1997

Freshness

Last platform update recorded as 2026 03 11, but the dataset itself is historical and withdrawn.

Geography

Great Britain, with intensive studies in Cumbria, Wales, and North Yorkshire.