aurora's radsurvey system

the survey system

Traditional techniques for the assessment of pollutants in contaminated land, notably brown-field sites, may not yield the speed and accuracy now required for estimates of risk and remediation cost. Detailed site investigation is often limited by the time and cost of laboratory-based analysis techniques and time consuming data collation phases.

This method provides a visual record of the results of the survey, giving an overview of the radiological conditions on the site at the time of the survey, which can be easier to interpret than more traditional forms of data presentation. This method also offers a good quality assurance trail in that it provides traceable evidence of the positional and radiation information for all collected data.

The site survey system used by Aurora was developed in response to these limitations - for collecting and managing radiation survey information. The aim is to allow large volumes of data to be gathered autonomously during surveys, allowing survey operators to concentrate on observing and documenting site conditions rather than recording instrument data. In typical conditions this enables a survey measurement to be taken in every square metre of the survey area.

instrumentation

The instrumentation used consists of an extremely sensitive gamma radiation detection system linked to a Global Positioning System (GPS). This ensures highly accurate gamma radiation contour mapping to demonstrate and validate the extent of potential radiological contamination.

data processing and results

The data is translated for use by a Geographical Information System (GIS). The GIS is used to display the gathered data in map form. The use of GIS software allows survey results to be displayed routinely in a way that can be easily understood.