Taylor;
amounts
Table 1.
recorded
at
locations
in
the
Marshall
Islands
shown
in
Average annual rainfall in these islands ranges from 411 cm at 6°N
latitude
to
147 cm at
latitude.
The
estimate
mean
data
11.5°N latitude,
in Table
amounts
of
1
are
rainfall
indicating a strong correlation with
used
to
develop
on atolis
where
a
no
predictive
records
Eq. (1), L is the degrees north latitude of an atoll with
seconds
are
expressed
as
a
fraction
of
a
degree.
For
model
are
to
kept.
In
the minutes
and
example,
11°21'N,
the
latitude of Enewetak Atoll, is expressed as 11.35.
Annual mean rainfall (cm) = 696° - 48.92L .
Using
Eq.
(1),
the
predicted
mean
rainfall
compared to the measured annual mean of 147 cm.
used,
however,
to
estimate
mean
can be extremely variable and,
year.
amounts
of
for
Enewetak
is
135
cm
This equation should only be
rain.
The
annual
amount
of
rain
for the most part, unpredictable from year to
At Enewetak the annual rainfall in 1974 was
years recorded.
(1)
215 cm,
one of
the wettest
The next year there was only 102 cm of rain, which was one of
the driest years of the last two decades.
Because
stored
rainwater
and
especially
visited,
used
in
the
is
preferred
sparingly
Northern
in
to groundwater
anticipation
Marshall
for drinking,
of
Islands.
At
it must
unpredictable
the
inhabited
be
droughts,
atolls
we
there were a variety of cisterns that were used for the storage of
water drained through a series of troughs from residence or municipal
catchments.
roof
Ailinginae was the only uninhabited atoll with a cistern and it
collected only water that fell directly into it.
Cistern water sampled at Rongelap in 1956, 2 y after the Bravo event at
90... . 8
Bikini, was found to contain over 500 pCi/1 of
This concentration
present
was,
until
the
atoll.
reduced
water
the
would
associated
now,
were
the
Usage
be
U.S.
guidelines
and
dilution with
expected
so
that
to
correlate
lower
today
90 Sr
in drinking water
for 905,
activity
the
global
rainwater
of
expected
fallout
levels
fallout
recent
wet
deposition.
However,
as
239+
1
.
of
39 24054,
3705, and 906, in cistern
excess
but
in drinking water
radionuclide
with
with
.
in
for
only reported measurement
concentration
concentrations
Island
recommended
should
in
at
have
cistern
concentrations
late
as
water
at
1975,
ty
Bikini
.
3.4.
.
concentrations,
indicating
that
at some atolls there may be an additional source of radionuclide contamination.
em ee oe
exceeds