Construction of Radioactive Concrete Pads for Calibration of Ground and Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectrometers

Construction of Radioactive Concrete Pads for Calibration of Ground and Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectrometers | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Construction of Radioactive Concrete Pads for Calibration of Ground and Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectrometers Dionisio Uendro Carlos, Fernando Brenha Ribeiro This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6371661/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Jun, 2025 Read the published version in Pure and Applied Geophysics → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Transportable calibration pads are portable reference sources used for the calibration of gamma-ray spectrometers. Eight radioactive concrete pads were built in Brazil, following the model adopted by the Canadian Geological Survey having the dimensions of 1 m x 1 m x 0.3 meter. Two of the pads were designed to measure background radiation. Three pads were enriched with one of the three main natural radioactive elements ( 40 K, 238 U and 232 Th) with traces of the other two elements. The remaining three pads contain varying amounts of these radioactive elements. To assess the homogeneity of the gamma radiation flux emitted from the concrete surfaces, two different analytical approaches were employed. The first approach involved measuring the radiation flux intensity over a regularly spaced grid on each concrete pad. The second approach aimed to evaluate the spatial distribution of gamma radiation intensity by fitting a low-degree polynomial surface to the radiation flux values obtained from the grid measurements. The elemental concentrations of the pads were determined using gamma-ray spectrometry, based on the activity measurements obtained from a high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer. Finally, the Compton scattering calibration constants for a NaI(Tl) portable gamma-ray spectrometer were determined, yielding values consistent with those reported for this type of instrument using the eight radioactive concrete pads. gamma-ray spectrometry calibration pads radioactive concrete pads Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Jun, 2025 Read the published version in Pure and Applied Geophysics → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 19 May, 2025 Reviews received at journal 11 May, 2025 Reviews received at journal 29 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 19 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Apr, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 14 Apr, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 06 Apr, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 04 Apr, 2025 First submitted to journal 03 Apr, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6371661","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":439092472,"identity":"ced0fca2-c8a3-4923-ac90-f04cf3422767","order_by":0,"name":"Dionisio Uendro Carlos","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDCCw0CcwCAB4TxgYJCDih8gUksCA4MxYS0oUkAtiQ2EtPAdZz724MEfCzkG9sPPPiRU1KVvuN18+HMBw518XFokD7OlGyS2SRgz8KQZz0g4czh3w51jadIzGJ5ZNuDQYnCYx0wisQGEgN5IbDuQu+FGjhkzD8NhA1y2gLUk/AFpYf8M1FKXbnAj//NnwlrYQFp4QLYwJxjcyGGQxqcF6Jc0CZBf2HhyihmAfjGceSPNTHqGwTOcWvjOHz4m+eNPnRw/+/HNDB8q6uT5biQ//lxQcQenFjhgQ+YwMxDWgAaYSdUwCkbBKBgFwxoAAEuOVCjgCfA3AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"São Paulo State University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dionisio","middleName":"Uendro","lastName":"Carlos","suffix":""},{"id":439092473,"identity":"a38c9fc5-e6ad-4bd3-80db-8dc856c99316","order_by":1,"name":"Fernando Brenha Ribeiro","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universidade de São Paulo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fernando","middleName":"Brenha","lastName":"Ribeiro","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-03 19:08:20","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6371661/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6371661/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-025-03753-8","type":"published","date":"2025-06-17T15:56:56+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":85231629,"identity":"a604221b-ef7a-4ff0-8f4c-c5d291b8c77a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-23 16:09:22","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1110607,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ConstructionofRadioactiveConcretePads.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6371661/v1_covered_b095a81c-04e5-4fae-816d-d1870f4518cd.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Construction of Radioactive Concrete Pads for Calibration of Ground and Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectrometers","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"pure-and-applied-geophysics","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"paag","sideBox":"Learn more about [Pure and Applied Geophysics](https://www.springer.com/journal/24)","snPcode":"24","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/24/3","title":"Pure and Applied Geophysics","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"gamma-ray spectrometry, calibration pads, radioactive concrete pads","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6371661/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6371661/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eTransportable calibration pads are portable reference sources used for the calibration of gamma-ray spectrometers. 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The second approach aimed to evaluate the spatial distribution of gamma radiation intensity by fitting a low-degree polynomial surface to the radiation flux values obtained from the grid measurements. The elemental concentrations of the pads were determined using gamma-ray spectrometry, based on the activity measurements obtained from a high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer. 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