Long term measurement of the 222Rn concentration in the Canfranc Underground Laboratory

Abstract

We report the results of 6 years (2013–2018) of measurements of ${}^{222}$Rn air concentration, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure and temperature in the halls A, B and C of the Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC). We have calculated all the Pearson correlation coefficients among these parameters and we have found a positive correlation between the ${}^{222}$Rn concentration and the relative humidity. Both correlated variables show a seasonal periodicity. The joint analysis of laboratory data and 4 years (2015–2018) of the meteorological variables outside the laboratory shows the correlation between the ${}^{222}$Rn concentration and the outside temperature. The collected information stresses the relevance of designing good Rn-mitigation strategies in current and future experiments at LSC; in particular, we have checked for two years (2017–2018) the good performance of the mitigation procedure of the ANAIS-112 experiment. Finally, we have monitored (2019–2021) for 2 years of live time, the radon-free air provided by the radon abatement system installed in the laboratory.