Vegetation induced distinctions between radionuclide distribution in soils (Austria)

In 2019 and 2020, the layers - down to a maximum depth of 30 cm - of 43 soil samples from different regions in Austria were measured gamma-spectrometrically to determine their activity concentration (in Bq/kg and Bq/m³) of ²³⁴Th, ²¹⁴Pb, ²¹⁴Bi, ²¹⁰Pb, ²²⁸Ac and ⁴⁰K. ¹³⁷Cs activity concentration (in Bq/m³) will be found in the supplementary data file only. A basic statistical analysis was carried out and explained variances for distinctions primarily between meadows and forests. Ternary diagrams were applied to represent equilibrium status of inventories and layer activities between ²³⁸U-equivalent, ²²⁶Ra-equivalent and ²¹⁰Pb. A method using ternary diagrams for identifying of element-specific dampening effects in remote sensing is presented in the report (ternary "adjustment" diagrams). The tendencies between forest and meadows sites are heterogeneous, but distinctions between coniferous and deciduous forest are extremely likely. Geological settings dominate the distributions, slightly altered by anthropogenic influence, which includes the kind of vegetation. Focusing on top soil layers (first and/or second layer) facilitates discrimination according to vegetation. At some sites changes of activities in the grass root layer (at 15 cm) were observed.