Feasibility of low-cost UAV-based gamma radiation surveys for environmental monitoring: A case study from the Třebsko Site, Czech Republic
By: Marian Takáč and Gunther Kletetschka
References
- Martin, P. G., Payton, O. D., Fardoulis, J. S., Richards, D. A., & Scott, T. B. (2015). The use of unmanned aerial systems for the mapping of legacy uranium mines. J. Environ. Radioact., 143, 135–140.
- Šálek, O., Matolín, M., & Gryc, L. (2018). Mapping of radiation anomalies using UAV mini-airborne gamma-ray spectrometry. J. Environ. Radioact., 182, 101–107.
- Dolníček, Z., Ulmanová, J., Sejkora, J., Knížek, F., & Škácha, P. (2023). Mineralogy and genesis of the Pb-Zn-Sb-Ag vein H32A in the Příbram uranium and base-metal district, Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic. Ore Geol. Rev., 162, 105695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2023.105695.
- DJI. (2015). Phantom 2 User Manual v1.4. [Online]. Available at https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom 2/en/Phantom_2_User_Manual_v1.4_en.pdf.
- RAE Systems. (2016). GammaRAE II R User’s Guide. [Online]. Available at https://www.raesystems.com/sites/default/files/content/resources/Manual_GammaRAE-II-R_User-Guide_059-4123-000_RevC.pdf.
- Minty, B. R. S. (1997). Fundamentals of airborne gamma-ray spectrometry. AGSO J. Aust. Geol. Geophys., 17, 39–50.
- Van der Veeke, S., Limburg, J., Koomans, R. L., Söderström, M., Waal, S. N. de, & Graaf, E. R. van der (2021). Footprint and height corrections for UAV-borne gamma-ray spectrometry studies. J. Environ. Radioact., 231, 106545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jenvrad.2021.106545.
- Craig, M., Dickson, B., & Rodrigues, S. (1999). Correcting aerial gamma-ray survey data for aircraft altitude. Explor. Geophys., 30(4), 161–166.
- Cook, Z., Kazemeini, M., Barzilov, A., & Yim, W. (2019). Low-altitude contour mapping of radiation fields using UAS swarm. Intell. Serv. Robot., 12, 219–230.
- Ma, Y. -H., Ge, L. -Q., Zhou, S. -C., & Luo, Y. -Y. (2012). Altitude correction for low-energy spectrum in airborne gamma-ray spectrometry. Nucl. Electron. Detect. Technol., 32, 1329–1331.
- Cressie, N. (2015). Statistics for spatial data. John Wiley & Sons.
- Pourimani, R., & Mohebian, M. (2021). Study of background correction of gamma-ray spectrometry using reference materials. Iran. J. Sci. Technol. Trans. Sci., 45(2), 733–736. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40995-020-01044-6.
- Dess, B. W., & Small, G. W. (2020). Committee classifier based on linear discriminant analysis for the detection of radioisotopes from airborne gamma-ray spectra. J. Environ. Radioact., 217, 106217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106217.
- IAEA. (2003). Guidelines for radioelement mapping using gamma ray spectrometry data. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency.
- Šálek, O. (2021). A fast method for modelling a gamma-ray field over inhomogeneous ground sources. Surv. Geophys., 42(2), 427–450.
- Cresswell, A., & Sanderson, D. (2012). Evaluating airborne and ground based gamma spectrometry methods for detecting particulate radioactivity in the environment: a case study of Irish Sea beaches. Sci. Total Environ., 437, 285–296.
- Martin-Burtart, N., Guillot, L., & Nourreddine, A. M. (2012). Airborne spectrometry: extraction of low energy γ-rays using two or three spectral windows. Appl. Radiat. Isot., 70(8), 1784–1791. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2012.03.019.
- Sanada, Y., & Torii, T. (2015). Aerial radiation monitoring around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant using an unmanned helicopter. J. Environ. Radioact., 139, 294–299.
- Folifack Signing, V. R., Mbarndouka Taamté, J., Kountchou Noube, M., Omgba Abanda, Z. S., Yerima Abba, H., & Saïdou. (2023). Real-time environmental radiation monitoring based on locally developed lowcost device and unmanned aerial vehicle. J. Instrum., 18(05), P05031. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/18/05/P05031.
Language: English
Page range: 9 - 15
Submitted on: May 16, 2025
Accepted on: Oct 3, 2025
Published on: Mar 25, 2026
Published by: Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year
Keywords:
Related subjects:
© 2026 Marian Takáč, Gunther Kletetschka, published by Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.