Radioactive Isotopes in the Atmosphere and their use in Meteorology
 
INTRODUCTION
In order to assess properly the danger to mankind from contamination of the environment by radioactive products of nuclear explosions and nuclear industrial waste products, and develop protective measures against it, we must be familiar with the laws governing the spreading of radioactive aerosols and gases in the atmosphere and other terrestrial media. These laws are investigated with the help of the latest methods and findings of meteorology, atmospheric physics and chemistry, and aerosol science.
Of great importance in such investigations are observations of the spread in the atmosphere and other media of natural tracer substances: carbon dioxide, ozone, water vapor, natural radioactive isotopes, etc.
At the same time natural and artifical tracers, particularly radioactive ones, provide a powerful new method of qualitative and quantitative study of motions in media (atmosphere, hydrosphere) and of the exchange between their individual reservoirs and layers (for example, the exchange of air masses between the troposphere and stratosphere, the exchange of carbon between the atmosphere and the ocean)...............