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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">ACPD</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">ACPD</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub">1680-7375</issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus GmbH</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/acpd-6-8917-2006</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Characterization of the &lt;sup&gt;222&lt;/sup&gt;Rn family turbulent transport in the convective atmospheric boundary layer</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Vinuesa</surname>
<given-names>J.-F.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Galmarini</surname>
<given-names>S.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>European Commission – DG Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Italy</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>25</day>
<month>09</month>
<year>2006</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>6</volume>
<issue>5</issue>
<fpage>8917</fpage>
<lpage>8960</lpage>
<permissions>
<license xlink:type="simple">
<license-p>This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.</license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
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<abstract>
<p>The combined effect of turbulent transport and radioactive decay on the
distribution of &lt;sup&gt;222&lt;/sup&gt;Rn and its progeny in convective atmospheric boundary
layers (CBL) is investigated. Large eddy simulation is used to simulate their
dispersion in steady state CBL and in unsteady conditions represented by the
growth of a CBL within a pre-existing reservoir layer.

&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The exact decomposition of the concentration and flux budget equations under
steady state conditions allowed us to determine which processes are
responsible for the vertical distribution of &lt;sup&gt;222&lt;/sup&gt;Rn and its progeny.
Their mean concentrations are directly correlated with their half-life, e.g.&amp;nbsp;&lt;sup&gt;222&lt;/sup&gt;Rn
and &lt;sup&gt;210&lt;/sup&gt;Pb are the most abundant whereas &lt;sup&gt;218&lt;/sup&gt;Po show the
lowest concentrations. &lt;sup&gt;222&lt;/sup&gt;Rn flux decreases linearly with height and its
flux budget is similar to the one of inert emitted scalar, i.e., a balance
between on the one hand the gradient and the buoyancy production terms, and
on the other hand the pressure and dissipation at smaller scales which tends
to destroy the fluxes. While &lt;sup&gt;222&lt;/sup&gt;Rn exhibits the typical bottom-up
behavior, the maximum flux location of the daughters is moving upwards while
their rank in the &lt;sup&gt;222&lt;/sup&gt;Rn progeny is increasing leading to a typical
top-down behavior for &lt;sup&gt;210&lt;/sup&gt;Pb. We also found that &lt;sup&gt;222&lt;/sup&gt;Rn short-lived
daughters, e.g.&amp;nbsp;&lt;sup&gt;218&lt;/sup&gt;Po and &lt;sup&gt;214&lt;/sup&gt;Pb, have relevant radioactive decaying
contributions acting as flux sources leading to deviations from the linear
flux shape. In addition, while analyzing the vertical distribution of the
radioactive decay contributions to the concentrations, e.g.&amp;nbsp;the decaying
zone, we found a discrepancy in height of &lt;sup&gt;222&lt;/sup&gt;Rn daughters&apos; radioactive
transformations.

&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Under unsteady conditions, the same behaviors reported under steady state
conditions are found: deviation of the fluxes from the linear shape for
&lt;sup&gt;218&lt;/sup&gt;Po, enhanced discrepancy in height of the radioactive transformation
contributions for all the daughters. In addition, &lt;sup&gt;222&lt;/sup&gt;Rn and its progeny
concentrations collapse due to the rapid growth of the CBL. The analysis
emphasizes the crucial role of turbulent transport in the behavior of
&lt;sup&gt;222&lt;/sup&gt;Rn morning concentrations, in particular the ventilation at the top
of the boundary layer that leads to the dilution of &lt;sup&gt;222&lt;/sup&gt;Rn by mixing with
radon low concentration air.</p>
</abstract>
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