Cel Meadows and forests are typical semi-natural ecosystems. Meadows are used extensively in many countries as pastures for cattle, sheep and goats while forests are important to man since they provide wood, paper, wildberries, mushrooms, game and recreational areas. Foodstuffs and other products from both of these types of ecosystem have exhibited persistently high contamination levels following the Chernobyl accident. It is essential a) to understand the reasons for this persistence and b) to estimate radiation doses incurred by human usage of these areas. The proposed project is a fully integrated field, laboratory and modelling study of caesium and strontium fluxes and persistence in semi-natural ecosystems. The ultimate aim is to quantify the operative parameters that rule the persistence of the radionuclides and their contribution to the dose to man and to provide a generic modelling capability for internal and external radiation exposure evaluation. This will be of direct relevance to the European Union's nuclear accident assessment requirements. The workplan is addressed to forests (coniferous and decidous) and meadows (a-lpine pasture and organic soils) within a broad European context. Field sites will be established in forests in Austria, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. Standardised methodologies will be used to measure caesium and strontium fluxes and distributions within these forests with emphasis being placed on the operative parameters (i) canopy to forest floor transfer, (ii) litter breakdown, ritention and migration in the soil and (iii) soil to vegetation (trees, understorey and fungi) transfer dynamics. Meadow sites will be selected in Germany, Ireland, Italy and Austria. Flux measurements will be made of caesium and strontium with particular emphasis being placed on soil processes such as (i) litter decomposition, (ii) fixation by clay minerals, (iii) bioavailability and (iv) the effects of each of these on the vertical and horizontal transport of these key elements. In parallel with field studies laboratory work will provide detailed mechanistic information on processes affecting fluxes. Furthermore, a parallel modelling programme will provide a suite of predictive models which will ultimately be coupled to form a unified ecosystem level code. Sensitivity analyses carried out on this detailed code will be used to refine existing simplified radiation exposure assessment models for both forest and meadow ecosystems. In this way two robust and reliable simplified models will be available for inclusion in "Environmental Packages" which will allow prediction of the long term effects of contamination events and will contribute to the development of environmental management and emergency planning for these systems. The partnership has been selected for its ability to contribute substantially to the proposed project. Some of the partners have previously worked in collaboration and have a proven track record in forest and meadow radioecology. The two new partners offer novel skills which are needed to complement the abilities of the group to fulfill the objectives of the proposal. The structure of the partnership is thus designed to achieve a complete integration of field and laboratory studies and model development. Program(-y) EAEC-NFS 2 - Specific research and training programme in the field of nuclear safety and safeguards, 1994-1998 Temat(-y) 040202 - Long term consequences of accidental contamination in semi-natural environments Zaproszenie do składania wniosków Data not available System finansowania CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Koordynator Agenzia Nazionale per la Protezione dell'Ambiente Wkład UE Brak danych Adres Via Vitaliano Brancati 00144 Roma Włochy Zobacz na mapie Koszt całkowity Brak danych Uczestnicy (7) Sortuj alfabetycznie Sortuj według wkładu UE Rozwiń wszystko Zwiń wszystko AUSTRIAN RESEARCH CENTERS SIEBERDORF Austria Wkład UE Brak danych Adres 2444 SEIBERSDORF Zobacz na mapie Koszt całkowity Brak danych BUNDESAMT FUER STRAHLENSCHUTZ Niemcy Wkład UE Brak danych Adres 1,Ingolstädter Landstraße 1 85764 OBERSCHLEISSHEIM Zobacz na mapie Koszt całkowity Brak danych GSF-RESEARCH CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH Niemcy Wkład UE Brak danych Adres Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1 85764 OBERSCHLEISSHEIM Zobacz na mapie Koszt całkowity Brak danych Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Zjednoczone Królestwo Wkład UE Brak danych Adres Silwood Park SL5 7TE Ascot Zobacz na mapie Koszt całkowity Brak danych Paul Scherrer Institut Szwajcaria Wkład UE Brak danych Adres 5232 Villigen Zobacz na mapie Koszt całkowity Brak danych RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION INSTITUTE OF IRELAND Irlandia Wkład UE Brak danych Adres Clonskeagh Square 3 14 DUBLIN Zobacz na mapie Koszt całkowity Brak danych UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN Belgia Wkład UE Brak danych Adres 2/10,Place Croix du Sud 2 1348 LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE Zobacz na mapie Koszt całkowity Brak danych
