Identification

Title

Radon potential for Great Britain version 3

Abstract

Radon is a natural radioactive gas, which enters buildings from the ground. The joint UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) (formerly Public Health England (PHE)) - British Geological Survey (BGS) digital dataset Radon Potential for Great Britain provides the current definitive map of radon Affected Areas in Great Britain. Exposure to high concentrations increases the risk of lung cancer. UK Health Security Agency (formerly PHE) recommends that radon levels should be reduced in homes where the annual average is at or above 200 becquerels per cubic metre (200 Bq m-3). This is termed the Action Level. The UKHSA defines radon Affected Areas as those with 1% chance or more of a house having a radon concentration at or above the Action Level of 200 Bq m-3. The dataset allows an estimate to be made of the probability that an individual property is at or above the Action Level for radon. This information provides an answer to one of the standard legal enquiries on house purchase in England and Wales, known as CON29 standard Enquiry of Local Authority; 3.13 Radon Gas: Location of the Property in a Radon Affected Area. Radon Potential for Great Britain also provides information on the level of protection required for new buildings as described in the latest Building Research Establishment guidance on radon protective measures for new buildings (Radon: guidance on protective measures for new dwellings; BR 211, 2015 in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland). This radon potential hazard information for Great Britain is based on UKHSA indoor radon measurements and BGS digital geology information. This product was derived from BGS Geology 50k (formerly known as DigMap50k) version 8 and UKHSA in-house radon measurement data. The indoor radon data is used with the agreement of the UKHSA. Confidentiality of measurement locations is maintained through data management practices. Access to the data is under licence.

Resource type

dataset

Resource locator

https://doi.org/10.5285/0a2a29b5-ac3f-4909-9d48-d08c12572c35

name: Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

function: information

https://www.bgs.ac.uk/datasets/radon-data-radon-potential-dataset/

name: BGS Datasets - Radon potential Homepage

function: information

Unique resource identifier

code

http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13607974

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2008-06-01

Keyword set

keyword value

Geochemistry

Radon protection

Radon potential

Natural hazards

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2011

Keyword set

keyword value

NERC_DDC

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

-7.4829

East bounding longitude

2.6955

North bounding latitude

60.7850

South bounding latitude

49.8165

Extent

Extent group

authority code

title

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2009

code identifying the extent

GBN

Extent group

authority code

title

reference date

date type

creation

effective date

1979

code identifying the extent

GREAT BRITAIN [id=139600]

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

2021-07

Dataset reference date

date type

creation

effective date

2021-07-01

Frequency of update

notPlanned

Quality and validity

Lineage

The radon potential dataset is derived by combining a simplified version of the geology of Great Britain (BGS Geology 50 version 8) with indoor radon measurement data collected by UK Health Security Agency (previously Public Health England (PHE). The land area is first divided up into simplified geologies, a combination of bedrock and superficial geological characteristics, derived from BGS GeologyGB-50 (1: 50 000 scale) digital geological map data. A code bedrock/superficial (BS) code is assigned to each of them. Each different simplified geology may appear at the land surface in many discontinuous locations across the country. Each simplified geology is then divided in 1 Km squares by using the OS British National Grid. From this division results a list of spatially referenced KMBS (a simplification of 1 Km2 / BS) polygons containing information about both the simplified geology and the BNG 1km square. UK Health Security Agency has a database of houses in which long-term (3 to 6 months) measurements of radon concentration have been made, and whose locations are accurately known. Each of these measurements is allocated to the underlying geological polygon followed by actual measurements' coordinates stripping off. This procedure allows for anonymization of house data. Taking each simplified geology in turn, the spatial variation of radon potential is mapped, treating the geology as if it were continuous over the land area. Bedrock, stratigraphic (order in which rock layers are laid down) or lithological (rock characteristics) generalisations of the simplified geologies may be required to assure that the number of radon measurements is enough to estimation the radon potential. All of the maps of radon potential within different simplified geologies are then combined to produce a map of variation in radon potential over the whole land surface. This dataset formed the raw data on which processing was carried out to ensure all end-users would achieve consistent results. All data processing was carried out using ESRI ArcGIS 10.7 software.

Conformity

Conformity report

specification

title

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2011

degree

false

explanation

See the referenced specification

Conformity report

specification

title

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2010-12-08

degree

false

explanation

See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:323:0011:0102:EN:PDF

Data format

name of format

ESRI Shapefile

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused.

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

organisation name

British Geological Survey

full postal address

Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth

NOTTINGHAM

NG12 5GG

United Kingdom

telephone number

0115 936 3143

facsimile number

0115 936 3276

email address

enquiries@bgs.ac.uk

responsible party role

distributor

Responsible party

organisation name

British Geological Survey

full postal address

Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth

NOTTINGHAM

NG12 5GG

United Kingdom

telephone number

0115 936 3143

facsimile number

0115 936 3276

email address

enquiries@bgs.ac.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Responsible party

organisation name

British Geological Survey

email address

not available

responsible party role

distributor

Responsible party

organisation name

British Geological Survey

email address

not available

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

organisation name

British Geological Survey

full postal address

Environmental Science Centre,Keyworth

NOTTINGHAM

NG12 5GG

United Kingdom

telephone number

+44 115 936 3100

email address

enquiries@bgs.ac.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2023-05-24

Metadata language