TRUS Vipers WN SPEEO WIND DIRECTION ‘SALTATION CAEL DAMM L ~~ a — me ULIRA-WIEW VELLME | At SAMPLERS oe LU TRA WiéwVOLUME| AU SAMMLEIAS - oe “AF Sam, tas PROFILE — AIR SAMEL In PROFLE MASS LOALDIAS WIAD PROPEL TEMPERATE RE FOE Com CE sEL B vANE (Tyante SOL MOST UAL Wind DIMEC TION ~+f MUAOry ATMOSANLAIC PRESSURE PRECIPITATION Ves hang Bipecr. ose el TFow Alagen 24, To Ace 98199, Ay Gore Sere O20° Tarun Ai SAMPLING CASCADE imac ron] * ‘0 orm) NETHORK LOVELACE PARTELE ——-- * ro al SET UM AY vanious SPECTROMETER Ola rrand , ULTAA-NIEW VOM AUR SAMPLERS 3 SALTATAOM CALE SAMA LH PrOLER Seevcy ~ $ AF x = #8 2--0-0- 7 c a 800 CfA) £00 Cart wea t- S000 Cart a > wo oD 3Od (June-September), the camera was used to record dust devils traversing the GUX experimental site. This was done to qualitatively asseas the impact of dust devils on transporting surface material into the atmosphere. The data which were available for the GMX experiment are presented in detail by Anspaugh and Phelps (this report}. A preliminary analysis of the air concentration data collected by REECo prior to the initiation of this study is also presented by Anspaugh and Phelps (this report). A variety of specialized instruments had to be designed and fabricated before the plutonium redistribution experiments could be conducted at NTS. One of the major undertakings was the development of an air sampler capable of collecting adequate amounts of airborne plutonium particulates during a 2-4 hr sampling period. This time period corresponded to the time "window" during which consistent meteorology could be ex- OA aie VOLUME AIM SAM EL ERS PROFILE A time-lapse camera on an 80=ft tower was located upwind from GZ such that the entire GMX experimental site was in its field of view. The camera has been operated during the daylight hours with a frame exposure every 5 sec. During the times of high dust devil activities DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIALIZED INSTRUMENTS AND TECHNIQUES PARTECounre®|* SALTAF(ON CREEP Saurian Cascade impactors were located on an arc 250 ft from GZ, and were run continuously for approximately 30-day periods. These instruments gave results on particle size fractions for plutonium and total airbome particulates. Results are given by Anspaugh and Phelps (this report). “port pected. Calculations indicated that even if the most sensitive radiochemical procedures were used in analyzing the air filters for plutonium, an air sampler with a through-put at 1500-2000 m3/hr would be required. Samplers with these required flow rates were not available; therefore, development of an ultrahigh-volume air sampler meeting the desired specifications proceeded. Tests on the prototype sampler were very encouraging, indicating that even at global background levels, surface air could be sampled for a time period of 1 hr, and accurate determinations of plutonium air concentrations could be made. Fourteen ultrahigh-volume air samplers were eventually fabricated. They are deployed in Area 13, GMX, and Mercury. One unit is in operation at Livermore. Micrometeorological forces that may cause resuspension of particles from the soil surface have significant transient behavior over very short periods of time, probably less than a second to a few minutes. The airborne particles resulting from resuspension normally are collected by use of a filter media -- airpump combination. The collected particles are then analyzed for plutonium, and the concentration of radioactivity in air is determined from the ratio of plutonium to the amount of air sampled. Therefore, since sampling must be done onibaeoen| 279 FIG. 2. LAYOUT OF THE RESUSPENSION AT GMX, AREA 5. 278 EXPERIMENT