Natural background radiation

Why?

1. I like physics.
2. I bought SOEKS geiger counter.
3. My curiosity.

Natural radiation sources

There are few natural radiation sources around us which sometimes may be even a little bit surprising for you. Using my geiger counter I made few measurments which I thought could be interesting to share.

Natural background radiation at the ground level

1. At the ground level in Kraków, Poland.

   Altitude 283m, radiation level range 0.60-0.20 [μSv/h].

   

2. Granite, contains radioactive isotope of potassium-40, thorium and also uranium.

   It’s very common in Europe to build granite tombstone and this is what I found on one of cementaties.

   

3. On the plane somewhere over Polish and Czech Republic border, flight LH 1627, Airbus A319.

   Altitude 9420m, radiation level 1.50-1.70 [μSv/h].

   

4. On the plane somewhere over Atlantic, flight LH 480.

   Altitude a little bit over 11000m. Radiation 2.20-2.80 [μSv/h].

   

5. At the gate of Nevada Test Site, the place where United States Department of Energy performed over 900 atomic test explosions.

   The gate to Merkury town was 60km away from where the explosions were made. Exact location: 36° 36′ 56″ N, 115° 59′ 56″ W. Altitude 1006m.

   

Conclusions

1. Comparing results to other sources I could found on Internet, the SOEKS geiger counter precisions seems to be preatty good, considering the price of that device which was 100 EUR.
2. Civilian airlines fly on altitudes where cosmic radiation becomes main source of radiation.
3. The measurments taken during the flights are in similar range like values presented by Specialists in Radiation Protection presented here: Radiation Exposure During Commercial Airline Flights