Extraction of the Gamma Radiometry Anomaly Map in One of the Radioactive areas of central Iran for Uranium Exploration Using an Autonomous UAV: a field study

Exploration of radioactive materials has been mainly performed by either airborne- or ground-based monitoring at the earlier steps. As the airborne monitoring using a helicopter (or airplanes) suffers from low spatial resolution, a radiation worker then surveys potential anomalies with a hand-held monitor to extract the radiological map. Due to possible rough terrain, ground-based monitoring faces some difficulties and is expensive or time-consuming. Drones fill a gap between airborne- and ground-based monitoring in the exploration of nuclear materials and facilities and complement the exploration process. Furthermore, the utilization of drones leads to a reduction in the time spent by a radiation worker in a radiological environment. In this study, a radiation detector-equipped unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been utilized to explore nuclear materials. The UAV consisted of a hexacopter, a scintillation detector, a photomultiplier tube, a positioning system, a mini-computer, and a data-link system for radiation data. The results show the effect of the height of flight on the exploration is more considerable than the speed and thus low altitudes are preferred. It can be concluded that the developed radiological-monitored UAV can be utilized for the exploration of natural radioactive materials.