Short-term temporal variations of soil gas radon concentration and comparison of measurement techniques.

Short-term temporal variations of soil gas radon concentration have been studied using different measuring techniques--instantaneous methods (grab sampling) using Lucas cells, continuous monitors, and integral nuclear track-etch detectors. A relatively low variability appeared during a 72-h follow-up. Different temporal changes were observed by using different methods. A substantial part of these changes was probably caused by fluctuations and errors connected with measuring methods themselves and did not reflect real variations of the measured parameter.