Cluster analysis and radiation monitoring of environment

Building a background radiation field on the ground on the basis of measurement data taken at a finite number of points is one of the most important tasks of radiation monitoring. The aim of the work: to study the possibility of applying cluster analysis for the tasks of radiation monitoring of the environment. Cluster analysis is a multidimensional statistical analysis. Its main purpose is to split the set of objects under study (observation points) into homogeneous groups or clusters, that is, the task of classifying data and identifying the corresponding structure in them is solved. Methods of research: the measurements of the power of the ambient dose of continuous X-ray and gamma radiation on the terrain by using the MKS-05 dosimeter "TERRA-0"; processing of the obtained data by cluster analysis methods using the computer program "Statistics-10", wherein each cluster point is characterized by three coordinates: two coordinates on the ground and the power of the ambient dose of radiation at a given point; Euclidean distance was chosen as the distance between two points. Results: after processing data using various clustering methods: the method of Complete Linkage, the method of Weighted pair-group average and the Ward's method, it was found that the results of the analysis practically coincide with each other, that proves the reliability of the application of cluster analysis for the tasks of radiation monitoring of the environment and mapping of radiation pollution. Conclusions: the concept of a "radiation cluster" was first formulated in this work, combining coordinates on a plane with an ambient dose rate;the possibility of using cluster analysis to construct a map of radiation pollution of the environment has been proved by sequential projectionfrom more connected to less connected radiation clusters onto the plane of the controlled zone. In this sense, cluster analysis is similar to the operator approach to the construction of the radiation field. For further research, it is of some interest to study the issues of integration of cluster analysis with geographic information systems.