A proposal for monitoring environmental radiation via the mobile phone network

Authors

  • Renato da Silva Institute of Radiation Protection and Dosimetry (IRD), Av. Salvador Allende, 3773, Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Elder Magalhaes Institute of Radiation Protection and Dosimetry (IRD), Av. Salvador Allende, 3773, Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Fernando Razuck Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), Brasília, Brazil
  • Ana Cristina Ferreira Institute of Radiation Protection and Dosimetry (IRD), Av. Salvador Allende, 3773, Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21014/actaimeko.v14i3.1950

Keywords:

environmental radiation monitoring, citizen science, Brazil, mobile phone network

Abstract

Currently, environmental radiation monitoring is increasingly necessary to ensure the population's protection against nuclear or radiological accidents. To this end, some countries have already implemented environmental monitoring networks. Despite this, Brazil not only lacks a radiological survey of its subsurface, but only a small fraction of its urban environment has been monitored so far, and it does not yet have a network of monitoring stations. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to present a system already under development that consists of an alternative way to permanently monitor environmental radiation. The proposed system is based on a device developed for this type of monitoring, as well as on work related to low-cost "citizen science" initiatives. In this case, the device is self-sufficient that can take all readings and send them over the mobile phone network, and it relies solely on battery power. Each device is a mobile station composed of a Geiger counter, a sensor for temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure, as well as a microcontroller associated with a phone chip and a Global Positioning System (GPS). The system is currently undergoing calibration and adjustments, with results from a preliminary study that collected more than 25,000 readings over a period of approximately 15 days. Since the system is already operational, even if not yet fully, a total of 180,000 readings has already been collected so far. The results, although preliminary and requiring adjustments to the filters and map visualisation, demonstrate the applicability and full potential of the proposed system.

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Published

2025-09-02

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 3 (2025)

Section

Research Papers

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Renato da Silva, Elder Magalhaes, Fernando Razuck, Ana Cristina Ferreira

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