Log-normal distribution for radon measurements in one room
[ 1 ] Instytut Inżynierii Środowiska i Instalacji Budowlanych, Wydział Inżynierii Środowiska i Energetyki, Politechnika Poznańska | [ P ] employee
2024
abstract
english
- radon
- distribution
- statistics
- measurements
- IAQ
EN Increasing attention is being paid to radon concentrations in the assessment of indoor climatic comfort. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive element that, under unfavourable circumstances, accumulates in excess in a building. Elevated concentrations of it can adversely affect the health of building occupants, resulting in increased interest in this element. The purpose of this study is to carry out a pilot study analysing the distribution and statistics of radon measurements as a preliminary to the analysis of how long radon measurements should be carried out in a given room in order to obtain results that can be regarded as reliable information on annual average radon concentrations. To this end, studies of radon concentrations in a selected room of a building located in central Poland were carried out over a year. Active meters were used for the measurements. Log-normal distributions were fitted to the long-term measurements and statistical measures were generated. As a result of the analyses, two periods of radon concentration were distinguished - summer and winter. It was noted that the distribution for the whole year is a composite of two log-normal distributions. In the situation where the room was used in a typical manner and the comparative level studied was appropriate for the selected measurement period for the winter months, shorter than monthly measurement periods generated meaningful information on radon concentrations. The expected value of the distribution can then be approximated by the median, the geometric mean or the arithmetic mean. Median is probably the best statistical measure for radon measurements.
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