Soil Measurements Database Search Form Instructions
The Soil Measurements Database Search Form, located in the upper frame, is used to search the Soils database for isotope measurements of soil samples collected by EML, and in some cases, collected by other agencies and analyzed by EML. All of the Search Form selection options are linked to this instructional frame. Please select your search criteria and submit the Form. After submitting the Form, your search will be executed and the search results will appear in this frame, replacing these instructions.
Please be patient and only click submit *once*. You can move the window separator up or down to show the results better or execute another search from the Form.
The time taken to execute your query depends on the number of records returned. If you do not set limits on the records sought above, your query will return a large number of records, which may take several minutes to process and lead to a timeout error. Limiting your query to one site or to a range of dates is highly recommended. More limited queries should be much faster, and very specific queries should execute almost instantly. You can also reduce this delay by selecting fewer records to be displayed at one time. Once you click the submit button, there will be a pause while the query is executed on our database; then the data will begin downloading. Depending upon your web browser, you may or may not receive a visual indication of activity after clicking the submit button but the query *is* working.
Please be patient and only click submit *once*. Selecting sites: There are several hundred different sites where soils samples have been collected under EML's soil sampling program. Samples have been collected from across the U.S. and a variety of foreign sites, usually on or near U.S. embassies. You can choose to search across every location or on one state or one country. Select your state or country from the pull-down menu.
Selecting dates: You can select a beginning and ending month/year to limit your search, or you can search through all samples collected. EML currently possesses samples from as early as 1953.
Selecting just a year will include all samples from that year and later/earlier. Selecting both a month and year will return all samples from that month and later/earlier. Selecting a month without a corresponding year is not meaningful. If your start date is after your end date, your results set will be quite small.
Selecting a sort type: You can choose to have returned data sorted by location first and then date, or by date first and then location.
Archived sample display: Checking this box will display a column indicating whether or not EML has any of that soil sample in our archives.
Selecting measurements: Checking these boxes will display the measurements taken for that isotope. Some isotopes, such as 90Sr and 137Cs, were measured frequently. Others were measured very infrequently, such as short-lived isotopes measured only after the Chernobyl accident. Picking these isotopes will sharply limit your returned results. In general, when searching for the commonly-measured isotopes, you will want to limit your query to a range of dates, but for the infrequently measured samples this may not be necessary, there won't be an excessive numbers of rows returned. Note that any query run without limits for date or location will be slow due to the amount of data that the server must wade through, even if there are only a few results returned.
Most of the soil samples in our archive are sections of a core sample. For example, if 10 cores of 30 cm depth were taken, there may be three samples consisting of the 0 - 2.5 cm depth, 2.5 - 5 cm depth, and 5 - 30 cm depth. Each sample would then be analyzed to determine the concentration of the given isotope in that depth layer. See discussion for more information. There are four types of measurements displayed:
In addition, the returned results will indicate which report this data was published in, the date of the report, and which study the sampling was conducted under. Below is a listing of the studies. Note that in many cases, a sample was analyzed multiple times for the same isotope under the same or different sample ID numbers. The date of the report the data was published in is useful because later analyses may be more accurate, use improved techniques, etc. The reader will have to take the various analyses into account in determining the "best" value for a particular isotope for a particular date and location.
- Individual, per mass - Concentration in that sample only, in (pCi/g).
- Individual, per area - Calculated deposition, for this depth layer only, in (nCi/m^2) which is equivalent to (mCi/km^2).
- Composite, per mass - Concentration for entire core sample, in (pCi/g). Generally a weighted average of the three or more individual samples. Sometimes a full-depth core was treated as one sample.
- Composite, per area - Calculated deposition, for full depth of core, in (nCi/m^2) which is equivalent to (mCi/km^2). See discussion for more information about how the depth profile sampled compares to the total deposition experienced by that site.
Study Code Short Name Full Name Study began: Study ended: A. Worldwide Strontium-90 Worldwide Strontium-90 1953 1967 B. Pasture Studies Strontium-90 Pasture Studies 1953 1960 C. Chicago Milkshed Chicago Milkshed Area Study 1953 1958 D. Mid-Continental Transect Mid-Continental US Transect Study 1958 1958 E. Rainfall Contour West Coast and Canadian Rainfall Contour 1957 1957 F. Strontium-90 and Rainfall Studies on Relation of Strontium-90 Deposition and Rainfall 1957 1962 G. Distribution with Slope Distribution with Slope in Loudoun County, Virginia 1962 1962 H. Irrigation Arizona Irrigation Study 1963 1963 I. Depth and Uniformity Depth Distribution and Regional Uniformity Studies 1959 1986 J. Rocky Flats Studies at Rocky Flats, Colorado 1970 1977 K. SNAP-9A SNAP-9A and Worldwide Plutonium Deposition Studies 1970 1972 L. Utah Deposition Studies in Utah 1959 1979 M. NTS Reconstructing Nevada Test Site Fallout Deposition 1971 1984 N. Three-mile Island Three Mile Island Reactor Accident 1979 1980 O. New York State Fallout Deposition in New York State 1969 1985 P. High Elevation High Elevation Study in North Carolina 1985 1985 Q. Lakeside Lake-Side Soil Sampling Activities 1962 1985 R. Chernobyl Studies Following the Chernobyl Accident, 1986 1986 1986 S. Kazakhastan Radiation due to the 1957 Mayak Nuclear Reactor Accident in Surrounding Areas 1994 1994 T. Novozybkov The Radiation in Novozybkov, USSR from the Chernobyl Reactor Accident in 1986 1990 1990 U. Unpublished Records Interoffice memos and personal records 1953 1999 V. Arctic Soils Arctic Soil Study 1991 1992 Displaying records: This box allows you to select how many records will display on screen at one time. Extremely large HTML tables can cause problems with your web browser when it attempts to parse and display them and can increase the time needed to download the information over a slow internet connection. Choosing a large number of records at a time can create tables large enough to crash your web browser. You have been warned. On the other hand, the query is executed again for each page displayed, which can be time-consuming if the query is complex. This choice is only meaningful for the hyperlinked display and is ignored for the comma-delimited format.
Standard display: Clicking the Submit button will submit the search and return it in standard form. All records which meet your criteria will be displayed. Each record represents one sample stored in EML's archive.
Comma-delimited display: Comma-delimited format is useful to allow people to download sections of the database and import them into spreadsheet or database applications. The format parallels the hyperlinked display - it should provide exactly the same records and fields as the hyperlinked display. You can thus refine your query with the web display and then download a file suitable for data manipulation. After clicking on the button, your web browser will ask if you want to save the file to disk - you should answer yes and give it a name ending in .txt because it is a plain-text file. When importing, you should treat all fields (or at least the sample ID fields) as "text" and not as "general" or "numeric" because some fields may have leading zeros which will be eliminated if they are treated as numbers.
The EML Sample Archives makes available environmental radiological data collected for programs funded through the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, the U. S. Energy Research and Development Administration and the U. S. Department of Energy. All of these programs have been terminated. The databases were last updated in 1999. No additional data will be added to these databases. Any inquiries about these programs should be made to webmaster@eml.doe.gov.