Automatic real-time interpolation of radiation hazards: a prototype and system architecture considerations

Detecting and monitoring the development of radioactive releases in the atmosphere is important. In many European countries monitoring networks have been established to perform this task. In the Netherlands the National Radioactivity Monitoring network (NRM) was installed. Currently, point maps are used to interpret the data from the NRM. Automatically generating maps in realtime would improve the interpretation of the data by giving the user a clear overview of the present radiological situation and provide an estimate of the radioactivity level at unmeasured locations. In this paper we present a prototype system that automatically generates real-time maps of radioactivity levels and presents results in an interoperable way through a Web Map Service. The system defines a first step towards a emergency management system and is suited primarily for data without large outliers. The automatic interpolation is done using universal kriging in combination with an automatic variogram fitting procedure. The focus is on mathematical and operational issues and on architectural considerations on how to improve the interoperability and portability of the prototype system. ∗ This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non commercial Works 3.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. DOI: 10.2902/1725-0463.2008.03.art5 International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research, 2008, Vol. 3, 58-72 Special Issue GI-Days, Münster, 2007 59