12 years of 7Be and 210Pb in Mt. Cimone, and their correlation with meteorological parameters

Abstract Simultaneous measurements of airborne radionuclides 7 Be and 210 Pb, together with aerosol mass load PM 10 , have been routinely carried out at the Global WMO-GAW station of Mt. Cimone (Italy, 2165 m a.s.l., 44° 12′ N, 10° 42′ E) from 1998 to 2011. The experimental activity was started with the purpose of gaining a better understanding of the vertical and horizontal transports taking place at this site affecting the atmospheric chemical composition. The time series of the collected data is presented and discussed in this paper. The 7 Be concentrations in this period are in the range 0.05–15.8 mBq m −3 with the presence of two distinct relative maxima during winter/spring and summer, suggesting an origin from different physical processes. The 210 Pb concentrations collected during the period are in the range 0.05–2.30 mBq m −3 and are characterized by a single maximum during the warm period. The 7 Be/ 210 Pb ratio was in the range 0.5–127.8 and is characterized by a maximum during the cold period. The frequency distributions of the three parameters and the seasonal/interannual variabilities are investigated and presented.