Cookies
O website necessita de alguns cookies e outros recursos semelhantes para funcionar. Caso o permita, o INESC TEC irá utilizar cookies para recolher dados sobre as suas visitas, contribuindo, assim, para estatísticas agregadas que permitem melhorar o nosso serviço. Ver mais
Aceitar Rejeitar
  • Menu
Tópicos
de interesse
Detalhes

Detalhes

  • Nome

    Guilherme Amaral Silva
  • Cargo

    Investigador
  • Desde

    01 julho 2013
006
Publicações

2023

Precipitation-Driven Gamma Radiation Enhancement Over the Atlantic Ocean

Autores
Barbosa, S; Dias, N; Almeida, C; Silva, G; Ferreira, A; Camilo, A; Silva, E;

Publicação
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES

Abstract
Gamma radiation over the Atlantic Ocean was measured continuously from January to May 2020 by a NaI(Tl) detector installed on board the Portuguese navy's ship NRP Sagres. Enhancements in the gamma radiation values are identified automatically by an algorithm for detection of anomalies in mean and variance as well as by visual inspection. The anomalies are typically +50% above the background level and relatively rare events (similar to<10% of the days). All the detected anomalies are associated with simultaneous precipitation events, consistent with the wet deposition of scavenged radionuclides. The enhancements are detected in the open ocean even at large distances (+500 km) from the nearest coastline. Back trajectories reveal that half of these events are associated with air masses experiencing continental land influences, but the other half do not display evidence of recent land contact. The enhancements in gamma radiation very far from land and with no evidence of continental fetch from back trajectories are difficult to explain as resulting only from radionuclides with a terrestrial source such as radon and its progeny. Further investigation and additional measurements are needed to improve understanding on the sources of ambient radioactivity in the open ocean and assess whether gamma radiation in the marine environment is influenced not only by radionuclides of terrestrial origin, but also cosmogenic radionuclides, like Beryllium-7, formed in the upper atmosphere but with the ability to be transported downward and serve as a tracer of the aerosols to which it attaches. Plain Language Summary Radioactive elements such as the noble gas radon and those produced by its radioactive decay are naturally present in the environment and used as tracers of atmospheric transport and composition. In particular, the noble gas radon, being inert and of predominantly terrestrial origin, is used to identify pristine marine air masses with no land contamination. Precipitation over land typically brings radon from the atmosphere to the surface, enhancing gamma radiation on the ground, but such enhancements have not been identified before nor expected over the ocean due to the low amount of radon typical of marine air masses. Here we report, for the first time, gamma radiation enhancements associated with precipitation in the oceanic environment, using measurements performed over the Atlantic Ocean in a campaign onboard the Portuguese navy ship NRP Sagres.

2023

Temporal variability of gamma radiation and aerosol concentration over the North Atlantic ocean

Autores
Dias, N; Amaral, G; Almeida, C; Ferreira, A; Camilo, A; Silva, E; Barbosa, S;

Publicação

Abstract
&lt;p&gt;Gamma radiation measured over the ocean is mainly due to airborne radionuclides, as gamma emission by radon degassing from the ocean is negligible. Airborne gamma-emitting elements include radon progeny (Pb-2114, Bi-214, Pb-210) and cosmogenic radionuclides such as Be-7. Radon progeny attaches readily to aerosols, thus the fate of gamma-emitting radon progeny, after its formation by radioactive decay from radon, is expected to be closely linked to that of aerosols.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Gamma radiation measurements over the Atlantic Ocean were made on board the ship-rigged sailing ship NRP Sagres in the framework of project SAIL (Space-Atmosphere-Ocean Interactions in the marine boundary Layer). The measurements were performed continuously with a NaI(Tl) scintillator counting all gamma rays from 475 keV to 3 MeV.&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The counts from the sensor were recorded every 1 second into a computer system which had his time reference corrected by a GNSS pulse per second (PPS) signal. The GNSS was also used to precisely position the ship. The measurements were performed over the Atlantic ocean from January to May 2020, along the ship&amp;#8217;s round trip from Lisboa - Cape Verde &amp;#8211; Rio de Janeiro &amp;#8211; Buenos Aires &amp;#8211; Cape Town &amp;#8211; Cape Verde - Lisboa.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The results show that the gamma radiation time series displays considerable higher counts and larger variability in January compared to the remaining period. Reanalysis data also indicate higher aerosol concentration. This work investigates in detail the association between the temporal evolution of the gamma radiation measurements obtained from the SAIL campaign over the Atlantic Ocean and co-located total aerosol concentration at 550 nm obtained every 3 hours from EAC4(ECMWF Atmospheric Composition Reanalysis 4) data.&lt;/p&gt;

2023

The effect of environmental parameters on radon concentration measured in an underground dead-end gallery (Vyhne, Slovakia)

Autores
Smetanova, I; Barbosa, SA; Vdacny, M; Csicsay, K; Silva, GA; Marekova, L; Almeida, C;

Publicação
JOURNAL OF RADIOANALYTICAL AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY

Abstract
Radon concentration was continuously monitored in a horizontal dead-end gallery near Vyhne (Central Slovakia) from October 2005 to April 2008. Hourly average of radon varied from 2800 to 10 500 Bq/m(3). Temporal variation of radon, which contains periodic and non-periodic signals, spans variation of annual to diurnal scale. Time series of radon were analyzed together with meteorological parameters. The annual variation of radon seems to be connected with the annual variation of atmospheric pressure. The amplitude and shape of diurnal variation of radon changed during the year and is correlated with corresponding changes in the daily amplitude of atmospheric pressure.

2022

An holistic monitoring system for measurement of the atmospheric electric field over the ocean - the SAIL campaign

Autores
Barbosa, S; Dias, N; Almeida, C; Amaral, G; Ferreira, A; Lima, L; Silva, I; Martins, A; Almeida, J; Camilo, M; Silva, E;

Publicação
OCEANS 2022

Abstract
The atmospheric electric field is a key characteristic of the Earth system. Despite its relevance, oceanic measurements of the atmospheric electric field are scarce, as typically oceanic measurements tend to be focused on ocean properties rather than on the atmosphere above. This motivated the set-up of an innovative campaign on board the sail ship NRP Sagres focused on the measurement of the atmospheric electric field in the marine boundary layer. This paper describes the monitoring system that was developed to measure the atmospheric electric field during the planned circumnavigation expedition of the sail ship NRP Sagres.

2019

Low Cost Underwater Acoustic Positioning System with a Simplified DoA Algorithm

Autores
Guedes, P; Viana, N; Silva, J; Amaral, G; Ferreira, H; Dias, A; Almeida, JM; Martins, A; Silva, EP;

Publicação
OCEANS 2019 MTS/IEEE SEATTLE

Abstract
For the context of a mobile tracking system, an underwater acoustic positioning system was developed, using three hydrophones to compute the direction of an acoustic source relative to an Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV). The paper presents an algorithm for the Direction of Arrival (DoA) of an acoustic source, which allows to estimate its position. Preliminary results will be shown in this paper relative to the detection and identification (ID) of the acoustic sources, as well as an analysis of the proposed algorithm. The solution allows the position estimation of an acoustic source, which can be used in tracking solutions. The system can be applied in an ASV or fixed buoys, as long as the baseline's hydrophones are at equal angular distances. The main objective is to track targets with the DoA algorithm as well to estimate their position, improving what was done in [1].