Performance of wire-type Rn detectors operated with gas gain in ambient air in view of its possible application to early earthquake predictions

TL;DR

This paper presents a low-cost, robust wire-type alpha particle detector operating in ambient air at high gas gains, suitable for large-scale monitoring of radon for early earthquake prediction.

Contribution

It introduces a novel wire-type detector capable of operating in humid air with high gas gains, enabling widespread radon monitoring for earthquake prediction.

Findings

Achieved a minimum detectable activity of 140 Bq/m³ in 1 min.

Demonstrated detector robustness and suitability for continuous, large-scale deployment.

Proposed application in earthquake-prone areas for early radon-based earthquake alerts.

Abstract

We describe a detector of alpha particles based on wire type counters (single-wire and multiwire) operating in ambient air at high gas gains (100-1000). The main advantages of these detectors are: low cost, robustness and ability to operate in humid air. The minimum detectable activity achieved with the multiwire detector for an integration time of 1 min is 140 Bq per m3, which is comparable to that featured by commercial devices. Owing to such features the detector is suited for massive application, for example for continuous monitoring of Rn or Po contaminations or, as discussed in the paper, its use in a network of Rn counters in areas affected by earth-quakes in order to verify, on a solid statistical basis, the envisaged correlation between the sudden Rn appearance and a forthcoming earthquake.