Half-Hourly Radon Concentration Measurements at Mawson and Macquarie Island, 1998-2000

Instruments at Mawson and Macquarie Island record radon concentration in air at half-hourly intervals, with a lower detection limit of about 40 mBq m-3. The data sets are continuous apart from calibrations and maintenance, starting in 1998 at Macquarie Island and 1999 at Mawson. This edited data set for Mawson 1999 and 2000 was produced by S. Whittlestone from Wollongong University, with instrument design and installation by ANSTO, supported by the Australia Antarctic Division and the Bureau of Meteorology.

Use Cases

• Analyzing atmospheric transport and air mass origins based on radon concentration time series.
• Studying baseline air quality and natural radioactivity in remote Antarctic environments.
• Calibrating or validating atmospheric models using continuous, high-frequency radon measurements.
• Assessing data reliability and instrument performance based on the recorded essential instrument parameters.

Strengths

• Continuous half-hourly measurements provide high temporal resolution for time-series analysis.
• Includes records of essential instrument parameters to assess data reliability.
• Covers two distinct Antarctic locations (Mawson and Macquarie Island) for spatial comparison.

Limitations

• Last updated 2000-09-01 23:59:59.999000; freshness should be verified.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Australia Antarctic Division (AU_AADC), with instrument design by ANSTO and data production by S. Whittlestone (Wollongong University).

Collection Method

Recorded by instruments at Mawson and Macquarie Island stations.

Time Range

Since 1998 at Macquarie Island and 1999 at Mawson; this edited set covers Mawson 1999 and 2000.

Freshness

Last updated 2000-09-01 23:59:59.999000.

Geography

Mawson and Macquarie Island, Antarctica.