Optimizing long-term monitoring of radiation air-dose rates after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Sun, D.*; Wainwright-Murakami, Haruko*; Oroza, C. A.*; Seki, Akiyuki; Mikami, Satoshi; Takemiya, Hiroshi; Saito, Kimiaki

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 220-221, p.106281_1 - 106281_8, 2020/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106281

We have developed a methodology for optimizing the monitoring locations of radiation air dose-rate monitoring. For the method, we use a Gaussian mixture model to identify the representative locations among multiple environmental variables, such as elevation and land-cover types. Next, we use a Gaussian process model to capture and estimate the heterogeneity of air-dose rates across the domain. Our results have shown that this approach allows us to select monitoring locations in a systematic manner such that the heterogeneity of air dose rates is captured by the minimal number of monitoring locations.