Seasonal variability of radon-derived fetch regions for Sado Island, Japan, based on 3 years of observations: 2002–2004

Three years of hourly atmospheric radon measurements at Sado Island (Japan) are discussed and compared with corresponding measurements at Gosan (South Korea), and Hok Tsui (China). In conjunction with back trajectory analysis, Sado radon data are used to characterise the seasonal variability in fetch regions of air masses subject to extremes of terrestrial influence. In winter, fetch regions of air masses that have experienced the greatest terrestrial influence covered southern Siberia; in summer, the terrestrial fetch was dominated by Japan; throughout the remaining months the terrestrial fetch encompassed the Korean Peninsula and far eastern China. Summer radon data are then used to estimate the radon flux from central Honshu (23.5 mBq m−2 s−1), which varied regionally between 10.6 and 47.9 mBq m−2 s−1. The Sado radon record reported here completes a 4-site, multi-year dataset of hourly radon concentrations across East Asia and the central Pacific (spanning 16° of latitude), which constitutes a unique evaluation tool for transport and mixing schemes of atmospheric and chemical transport models.