Year
2010
Abstract
When analyzing field data, the uncertainty in the background continuum emission produces the majority of error in the final gamma-source analysis. The background emission typically dominates an observed spectrum in terms of counts and is highly variable spatially and temporally. The majority of the spectral shape of the background continuum is produced by combinations of cosmic rays, 40K, 235U, and 220Rn, and the continuum is similar in shape to the 15%-20% level for most field observations. However, the goal of spectroscopy analysis is to pick up subtle peaks (