Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 139 (2015) 294e299

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Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvrad

Aerial radiation monitoring around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear

power plant using an unmanned helicopter
Yukihisa Sanada*, Tatsuo Torii
Headquarters of Fukushima Partnership Operations, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-2-2, Uchisaiwai-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8577, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011 generated a series of large tsunami that seriously
Received 2 December 2013 damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP), which resulted in the release of radio-
Received in revised form active materials into the environment. To provide further details regarding the distribution of air dose
26 June 2014
rate and the distribution of radioactive cesium (134Cs and 137Cs) deposition on the ground within a radius
Accepted 26 June 2014
of approximately 5 km from the nuclear power plant, we carried out measurements using an unmanned
Available online 19 July 2014
helicopter equipped with a radiation detection system. The distribution of the air dose rate at a height of
1 m above the ground and the radioactive cesium deposition on the ground was calculated. Accordingly,
Keywords:
Unmanned helicopter
the footprint of radioactive plumes that extended from the FDNPP was illustrated.
Radiation measurement © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Plastic scintillator
LaBr3:Ce scintillator
Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant
Radioactive cesium

1. Introduction unmanned helicopter (AUH) equipped with a radiation detector has

To measure the distribution of radioactive substances released
into the environment over an entire region after the accident at the
Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) in 2011, we
developed remote monitoring techniques using a manned heli-
copter and applied these techniques to dose rate measurement of
the whole of Japan (Torii et al., 2012; Sanada et al., 2014a). Manned
helicopter technology is extremely useful for monitoring remote
radiation because it enables radiation measurements in areas that
people cannot easily enter, such as forests and paddy fields. The
map constructed from these data helps to visualize the distribution
of the air dose rate and the radioactive cesium deposition on the
ground over large areas. However, aviation regulations in Japan
prohibit flying manned helicopters at altitudes lower than 150 m
above ground level (AGL).
In Japan, unmanned helicopters that fly at a low altitude are not
restricted by the aviation regulations and are typically used for
agricultural applications, such as spraying pesticides. For scientific
observations, an unmanned helicopter can be equipped with an
autonomous navigation system comprising a computer and
communication system (Kaneko et al., 2011). An autonomous
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ81 3 3592 2351.
E-mail address: sanada.yukihisa@jaea.go.jp (Y. Sanada).
been developed by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) as a
radiation monitor for nuclear emergencies following the Tokai-
mura criticality accident that occurred in 1999 (Okuyama et al.,
2008).
Radiation can be measured by AUHs quickly over large areas, as
compared to performing measurements on the ground using
portable survey meters. Moreover, because flights can be pro-
grammed using an autonomous flight system, confirmation of the
effect of decontamination work and investigation of the migration
of radioactive materials can both be assessed on a single flight
(Sanada et al., 2014b). It is also possible to estimate the air dose rate
and the radioactive cesium deposition on the ground in evacuation
zones near the nuclear power plant, even in mountainous areas,
paddy fields and high air dose rate areas that aren't easily accessible
by people. In this paper, we report the results of the AUH moni-
toring around the FDNPP.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. AUH
We used an AUH (RMAX G1) manufactured by Yamaha Motor
Co., Ltd (Shizuoka, Japan). Although taking off and landing of this
AUH is operated manually, once airborne the AUH functions
autonomously according to a preset program. The operator was

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.06.027
0265-931X/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 Y. Sanada, T. Torii / Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 139 (2015) 294e299
allowed for a safety check in operated automatically monitoring
flights using a computer and a communication system that received
radio waves (2.4 GHz) from a ground station in a vehicle. Based on
information about the position of the helicopter obtained by a
differential global positioning system (DGPS), the operator planned
the flight program, including the flight path, speed and altitude of
the AUH. The AUH weighs 94 kg and has a maximum payload ca-
pacity of 10 kg. Its maximum speed is 72 km/h (about 40 knots). The
flight duration is 1.5 h in a filled-up fuels.
2.2. Radiation measurement system
We employed three LaBr3:Ce scintillation detectors (38.1 mm in
diameter  38.1 mm in length), packaged with supporting electronics
to create the 6.5 kg Aerial Radiation Measurement System (ARMS),
which was installed under the helicopter. The ARMS was electrically
insulated by the AUH to reduce the occurrence of mutual in-
terferences. Noise derived from the AUH was not detected in ARMS
data. The count rate of the three detectors, and the spectral and po-
sition data of the DGPS were acquired and stored in the ARMS every
second. The pulse signal of the LaBr3:Ce scintillation detector from
0 keV to 3000 keV is preserved in each of the 1024 channels of the
multi channel analyzer (MCA) in the ARMS. Any signal greater than
3000 keV was only counted without information on gamma energy.
Any signal less than 50 keV was removed by the pulse height
discriminator. The energy resolution (full width at half maximum over
the peak position) for the 662 keV photopeak was 2.8%. This resolution
is sufficient to discriminate between the photopeaks of 605 keV
(134Cs) and 662 keV (137Cs). The gamma spectra of the three detectors
were stored individually and summed after each flight. Detector
sensitivity dependency on temperature was corrected with a tem-
perature compensation circuit. The output from the ARMS was down
linked to the ground station using a wireless local area network; thus
the count rate data were displayed in real time on a map.
Samples of the gamma spectra measured in the evacuation zone
around the FDNPP are shown in Fig. 1. These spectra, representing a
period of 100 s, were obtained hovering at 100 m AGL and above the
sea in December 2012. Both measurement areas were in Futaba-
machi, which is 5 km north of the FDNPP. The spectrum repre-
sented by the black line was obtained in the area in where the air
dose rate at 1 m AGL was 10 mSv/h. Another spectrum represented by
a gray line was obtained above the sea 200 m from the shore.
2.3. Data acquisition
Most of the flights were carried out at a speed of 8 m/s and 80 m
AGL. We selected this flight altitude as a standard altitude (Hsd) in
Fig. 1. Gamma spectra of the ARMS (three LaBr3:Ce detectors) above the ground and
above the sea in Futaba-machi, 5 km from the FDNPP. Measurement time was 100 s.
Measurement date was 22 December 2012.
295
consideration of the safety and reliability of the data. A measure-
ment at 80 m AGL means that the ARMS measured the average
gamma rays emitted from the ground within a circle 80 m in radius
below the helicopter in the case of an infinite plate source (IAEA,
2003). Furthermore, considering the 80 m AGL, we employed a
flight line spacing of 80 m.
2.4. Calibration parameter
To convert the total count rate measured in the air into the air
dose rate at 1 m AGL, we measured the air dose rate at a height of
1 m using a NaI survey meter (TGS-172B, Hitachi Aloka Medical, Ltd,
Tokyo Japan) at 30 locations in a test area within the evacuation
zones near the FDNPP. This survey meter was calibrated based on a
Japanese standard (JIS, 2014). The test area was selected for its flat
topography and little variation in air dose-rate results. At the test
area, the helicopter hovered at 10 m or 20 m AGL intervals from
10 m to 100 m AGL, and we measured the total count rate at each
height. Fig. 2 shows the relationship between total count rates
measured as a function of AGL altitudes. An effective attenuation
factor (AF) was selected from an exponential regression of each
background-corrected count rate and height. Furthermore, the air
dose-rate conversion factor (CDsd) was calculated as the ratio of the
total count rate of at 80 m AGL to the air dose rate at 1 m AGL in the
test area.
A background spectrum was collected at 80 m above the sea
(gray line in Fig. 1). The background spectrum represents radio-
logical contributions from (1) inherent contaminants within the
LaBr3:Ce crystal, (2) any sources in/on the AUH and associated at-
tachments, and (3) cosmic radiation. The inherent-contamination
of the LaBr3:Ce crystal is due to the presence of natural radionu-
clides of the detector material itself, such as 138La, and contami-
nation by 227Ac, a chemical homolog of lanthanum (Nicolini et al.,
2007). The influence of cosmic rays varies with the altitude of the
flight. However, because variation of count rate due to cosmic rays
is smaller than the count rate of the radioactive cesium around the
FDNPP, the influence of cosmic rays on the calibration parameter is
considered as negligible.
2.5. Data analysis
2.5.1. Air dose rate
Although the gamma-ray energy spectrum can be collected with
the ARMS, we used the gross count rate for estimation of the air
dose rate, which includes the contribution from natural radiation.
Fig. 2. Example of the relationship between the count rate of the ARMS and AGL flight
altitude. AF is the inclination of the exponential fitting curve. Air dose rate of this point
(in Namie-machi, 8 km from the FDNPP) was 0.6 mSv/h. The error was twice the
standard deviation of the measurement result.
296 Y. Sanada, T. Torii / Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 139 (2015) 294e299
We selected the total count rates of this background spectrum (gray
line in Fig. 1) as the background count rate (BG). The air dose rate at
1 m AGL (D1m) was calculated from the airborne count rate by
subtracting BG from the gross count rate (GC). The AGL altitude was
evaluated to subtract the altitude of the digital elevation model
(DEM) data (GSI, 2011) of the 10 m mesh from the GPS altitude
(altitude above sea level). The difference of the real flight altitude
(H) and Hsd was corrected using AF. The D1m is given by Eq. (1).
D1m ¼ ðGC  BGÞ  CDsd  exp½  AF  ðH  Hsd Þ
To evaluate the radioactive cesium deposition on the ground, we
used the method of calculating radioactive cesium deposition on
the ground from the air dose rate of the radioactive cesium. Here,
the air dose rate of the radioactive cesium was calculated by sub-
tracting the air dose rate by the cosmic ray and natural radionu-
clides in AUH and ARMS from the measured air dose rate. The
relationship between the radioactive cesium deposition on the
ground and the air dose rate of the radioactive cesium was obtained
using an in-situ Ge detector.
Fig. 3a shows a comparison between the ground measurement
results of 2500 points by the NaI survey meter at 1 m AGL and the
ARMS measurements. These data all agreed well within the slope
range of 0.5e2, indicating that the two systems can accurately
measure the air dose rate distribution on the ground within an
uncertainty factor of 2. However, at certain points, the air dose rate
measured by the ARMS was higher or lower than that obtained by
the ground measurement. This could be because such points are
locations where the air dose rate is heterogeneous (for example
1.0e10 mSv/h within 1 km2). The measurement results obtained by
the ARMS may not match the ground measurement data at every
Fig. 3. Comparison of AUH and measurement. Top left (a) shows results from the NaI survey meter. Top right (b) shows results of the in situ Ge measurement. Almost all plots are
between the two lines (y ¼ 0.5x, y ¼ 2.0x) shown in the figure. The figures on the bottom show the distributions of the ratios for the NaI survey meter (c) and in-situ Ge mea-
surement (d).
point, because the data obtained by the unmanned helicopter are
an average value representing the area below the helicopter.
Moreover, the environmental effects pointed out by IAEA (2003)
(e.g. shielding condition from source to detector, soil moisture, Rn
progeny in air and topographic effects) may also be responsible for
the slight data mismatch. Evaluation of these effects will be
necessary in the future.
The minimum detectable air dose rate (MDD) is 0.07 mSv/h at
80 m AGL. The MDD was calculated from the BG count rate obtained
above the sea, and the MDDs were converted into the air dose rate
(1) at 1 m AGL using Eq (1). To create a map of the air dose rate dis-
tribution, the air dose rate data obtained were interpolated using
the Kriging method (IAEA, 2003).
2.5.2. Radioactive cesium deposition on the ground
The radioactive cesium deposition on the ground (Rd) was
calculated from the air dose rate excluding the radiation from
natural radionuclides in the ground. This is possible because those
from cesium are much lower than the gamma-ray energies from
radioactive cesium from the naturally occurring K, U, and Th at
1471 keV, 1765 keV, and 2615 keV, respectively. Due to the inherent
contamination within the LaBr3:Ce crystal, it is difficult to correctly
estimate the terrestrial component of natural radiation because the
internal 138La emission (1436 keV) closely coincides with the nat-
ural 40K emission (1461 keV). To overcome this challenge, the
contribution of the natural radionuclides to the air dose rate was
measured at 104 locations around the FDNPP using an in situ Ge
detector (Falcon 5000, CANBERRA Industries Inc., Meriden, CT), and
the average air dose rate from natural radionuclides in the ground
of 31.3 nSv/h, was estimated to be the background air dose rate
(Dnat). The ratio of 134Cs/137Cs (B) was determined by the ratio of
 Y. Sanada, T. Torii / Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 139 (2015) 294e299 297

photopeak counts of 661 keV (137Cs) and 796 keV (134Cs) by using
the gamma-ray energy spectrum. The B on the measurement date
was similar to the value of the physical decay of the radioactive
cesium from the calibration date (the ratio of 134Cs/137Cs was 0.917
on Aug. 13, 2011 (MEXT, 2011)). The radioactive cesium deposition
on the ground was calculated using the conversion factor
(CF ¼ [kBq/m2][mSv/h]1) obtained from the air dose rate. The CF
was given by the relaxation mass per unit (b) of 1.0 g cm2 (ICRU,
1994). The b was used for consistency with the depth profile
measurements of the FDNPP (Kato et al., 2012). The Rd is shown in
Eq. (2).
 
B  CF134 þ CF137
Rd ¼ ðD1m  Dnat Þ  (2)
Bþ1

where CF134 and CF137 are the conversion factors for 134Cs and 137Cs,
respectively.
A comparison between the ground measurement results ob-
tained by the in-situ Ge detector at 128 points that were 1 m AGL
and the analyzed results measured by the ARMS are shown in
Fig. 3c. These data agree well within the range of 0.5e2, indicating
that the ARMS can accurately measure the radioactive cesium
deposition on the ground. As shown by the preceding measure-
ment and the analysis, we can detect a minimum detectable ac-
tivity (MDA) of 4 kBq/m2 of radioactive cesium at 80 m AGL.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Air dose-rate distribution

Fig. 4. Flight path of the AUH. There are gaps in the flight path because of a power Prior to this study, aerial monitoring using manned helicopters
transmission line. had only been used to measure data at a distance of 3 km or greater

Fig. 5. (a) Distribution map of the air dose-rate at 1 m AGL as measured by the AUH. The mesh of the map was 5 m. Data were decay-corrected to March 20, 2013. (b) Distribution
map of the air dose-rate at 1 m AGL as measured by the manned helicopter. The mesh of the map is 250 m. Data were decay-corrected to March 20, 2013. Black dots indicate the
flight path.
298 Y. Sanada, T. Torii / Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 139 (2015) 294e299
from the FDNPP due to the aviation regulations in Japan. However,
these regulations do not pertain to low altitude unmanned heli-
copters, so we decided to measure the air dose rate within a 5 km
distance from FDNPP using the AUH. The entire survey was
completed over a period of 52 d from January 28, 2013 to March 20,
2013 using a line spacing of 80 m AGL. Fig. 4 shows the flight path of
the AUH.
Fig. 5a shows the distribution map of the air dose rate measured
by the AUH. These data are decay-corrected to March 20, 2013 by
the physical half-lives of radionuclides. Four deposition patterns in
which the air dose rate is particularly high extend from the FDNPP,
as clearly seen in the figure. This indicates that there were four
unique releases of radioactive material during the accidents. High
air dose rate areas consist of four zones around the FDNPP. The
southern area had the highest air dose rate. The western area
seemed to be divided into two sections, and the high air dose-rate
area in the west appeared from a location several hundred meters
away from the boundary of the FDNPP site as shown in Fig. 5a. The
air dose rate in the northwestern area was comparatively low.
The distribution map produced from aerial monitoring using the
manned helicopter is shown in Fig. 5b. These data were collected
from October 31, 2012 to November 16, 2012 (MEXT, 2013) and are
decay-corrected to March 20, 2013 by the physical half life. Because
the spacing of the flight line with a manned helicopter (1.8 km) was
wider than that of the unmanned helicopter, the position resolution
of the map was relatively rough. Because flight conditions (altitude,
speed and detector) are different, both maps do not completely
agree, but the tendency of the distribution maps was similar.
Prior to this study, the air dose-rate distribution around the
FDNPP had not been measured by either airborne monitoring or
ground measurement. Our results show the first detailed air dose-
Fig. 6. Distribution map of radioactive cesium deposition on the soil. Data were decay-
corrected to March 20, 2013.
rate distribution around the FDNPP obtained after the accident,
providing important information for analysis of the accident.
3.2. Distribution of radioactive cesium deposition on the ground
The distribution of the radioactive cesium deposition on the
ground was obtained along with the air dose rate. The radioactive
cesium deposition on the ground was evaluated using the air dose
rate as previously mentioned, and the results are shown in Fig. 6.
The area with the greatest concentration of radioactive cesium was
in the southern and western parts up to 3 km from the FDNPP site.
We were able to obtain the distribution of the radioactive cesium
deposition on the ground by this AUH monitoring.
4. Conclusion
To clarify the distribution of radioactive cesium deposition, we
performed measurements over a wide area around the FDNPP us-
ing the ARMS. This technique combines airborne monitoring and
ground monitoring, and is useful in clarifying the detailed distri-
bution. This technique visually expressed the dispersion patterns of
the radioactive material around the FDNPP and clearly showed the
deposition from the radioactive plumes emitted by the accident.
Because duplicate measurements are easily performed using AUH
monitoring, this method is effective for investigating the migration
of radioactive materials in the environment. In subsequent exper-
iments, we will perform observational and analytical research on
the migration of the radioactive cesium around the FDNPP.
Acknowledgment
We thank Mr. Y. Yuuki, Mr. M. Matsui, Mr. Y. Nishizawa, Mr. M.
Ishida, and Mr. Y. Urabe for their cooperation in taking measure-
ments and processing data. We are also grateful to Mr. J. Ishida and
the collaborators at the Fukushima Environmental Safety Center,
JAEA, for their encouragement of this study.
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