Measuring radon in soil gas and groundwaters: a review

Instruments for the measurements of radon and its decay products in earthquake research are based mostly on
the detection of alpha particles. The devices and methods used depend on whether the techniques measure radon
or radon decay products, and the duration of the measurements, of which there are three types: i) grab or instantaneous,
ii) integrating and iii) continuous. Other criteria used in the design of these instruments are field measurements
applicability, portability, convenience and reliability. With the recent increased demand for radon and
radon decay products measurements, instruments development has focused on the design of appropriate devices
for short-term measurements, as well as on more complex and sophisticated instruments for long-term measurements
used in radon research for geophysical, geochemical and hydrological studies.

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