be exceeded in other countries unless particular factors
of environment intervene since the U. S. probably has
the highest total fallout in the world. It seems very
unlikely, however, that environmental factors could increase the level cver the WU. S. by more than a factor
of 2 or 3.
B.

Effect of Rainfsil.

As mentioned earlier, there is excellent reason
te suppose that the deposition from the troposphere on
the earth’s surface is best accomplished by rain. By

rain is meant not heavy rain but anything which in-

volves the settling of weter droplets. This might in-~
clude fog or mist. The suggestion has been made3/
that
the small size of the stratospheric fallout particles
gives them a very high mobility due to molecular
motion since, in fact, they probably are almost molecular
in dimensions. This high mobility of the particles makes
it probable that direct coxtact of the fallout particles
with water droplets will occur. One imagines on this
theory that the tiny particles pass through the tropopause
from the stratosphere, and then meet water droplets ina
cloud or mist or rain in the course of their rapid
random motion due to collisions with the air molecules.
So, rather than the classicsl langmuir mechanism of the
rain sweeping out the air through whicu it falls by
colliding with the particles themselves, the particles
probably collide with the water dreplets either before
or during the rainstorm, prcbarly most importantly
before. It is clear from this mechanism that fog and
mist may very well be very effective and that a cloud
probvably gathers a considerable fraction of the fallout from the air in its bulk.
In eny tase, some experimental evidence has
been found for the efiect of raiafall on fallout by
studying three particularly arid regions--the Imperial
Valley in Califcrnia at the town of Brawley, and the

3/ Stanley Greenfield, Rard Corporation.
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