An automated radon monitoring instrument developed at Drexel University for the direct analysis of atmospheric radon in the remote marine atmosphere has been in operation in Bermuda for more than a year. The purpose of the proposed project is to perform a series of studies in the laboratory and in the field to characterize fully the instrumental and sampling attributes affecting the overall analytical efficiency of the field radon instrument in order to validate the methodology and the analytical results. The characterization studies are designed to provide: 1. Assessment of the efficiency of radon sampling and its dependency upon operating temperatures. 2. Calibration of the counting efficiency of each of the six Lucas cells which have been operational in the Bermuda instrument. 3. Calibration of the Bermuda instrument and a second new instrument using double blind standard additions. 4. Intercomparison, using an independent referee, of both field and laboratory analyses by the two Drexel instruments with instruments of the Environmental Measurements Laboratory of the Department of Energy, the Australia Nuclear and Technology Organization, and the Centre des Faibles Radioactivities, CNRS, France. //
