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Data on reduction of radioactivity in plants are highly important for making decision on emergency response and remediation of contaminated areas. Dynamics of the 131I and 137Cs concentrations in the weed leaves sampled in the areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident in Japan was assessed for the period March–December 2011. The effective half-lives for 131I and 137Cs of 3.8–4.2 days and 7.1–13.3 days in the weed leaves were calculated for the first two months after the deposition. The approach for assessment of the aggregated transfer factors based on the ambient dose equivalent rate was suggested and validated. The geometric means of the soil to the weed leaves aggregated transfer factors were estimated for June–December 2011. Soil to crop 137Cs- concentration ratios (buckwheat, brown rice and soybean) were estimated for 2011–2016. Soil to crop concentration ratios were found to decrease in the order of soybean > buckwheat > brown rice. The effective half-lives for 137Cs in these crops were estimated to be between 1 and 2.5 years for the period 2011 2016, and longer than 5–7 years after 2016. It was found that these data comply with the Chernobyl related data obtained for similar conditions and complement of international documents on radionuclide transfer in agricultural environment such as the IAEA TRS 472. • Effective half-lives for 131I in the weed ranged 3.8–4.2 days for the first two months after the major deposition events. • Effective half-lives for 137Cs in the weed leaves ranged 7.1–13.3 days for the first two months after the deposition. • T ag to the weed observed during first year after the FDNPP accident are similar to those measures after Chernobyl accident. • First half-lives for 137Cs soil to plant C r in 2012–2016 ranged 1.0 and 2.5 years and second half-lives - 6.3–7.3 years. • Half-lives values for 137Cs C r in 2011-2016 comply with the similar data derived after the Chernobyl accident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty-five years after the accident, large forest areas in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone still contain huge amounts of radionuclides released from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Unit 4 in April 1986. An assessment of the radiological and radioecological consequences of persistent radioactive contamination and development of remediation strategies for Chernobyl forests imply acquiring comprehensive data on their contamination levels and dynamics of biomass inventories. The most accurate forest inventory data can be obtained in ground timber cruises. However, such cruises in radioactive contaminated forest ecosystems in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone result in radiation exposures of the personnel involved, which means the need for development of the remote sensing methods. The purpose of this study is to analyze the applicability and limitations of the photogrammetric method for the remote large-scale monitoring of aboveground biomass inventories. Based on field measurements, we estimated the biomass inventories in 31 Scots pine stands including both artificial plantations and natural populations. The stands differed significantly in age (from a few years in natural populations to 115 years in the oldest plantation), productivity (from 0.4 to 19.8 kg m−2), mean height (from 4.1 to 36 m), and other parameters. Photogrammetric data were obtained from the same stands using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). These data were then processed using two approaches to derive the canopy height model (CHM) parameters which were tested for correlation with the aboveground biomass inventories. In the first approach, we found that the inventories correlated well with the mean value of CHM of the site (R2 = 0.79). In the second approach, the total aboveground biomass was approximated by a function of the average height of trees detected at the site and the total crown projection area (R2 = 0.78). Among other local parameters, the total crown projection area was identified as the major factor impacting the accuracy of the aboveground biomass inventory estimates from the UAV survey data in both approaches. In the dense stands with the high total crown projections areas (more than 0.90), the average relative deviations of the UAV-based aboveground biomass estimates from the results of the field measurements were close to 0, which means the adequate accuracy of the UAV surveys data for radioecological monitoring purposes. The relative deviations of the UAV-based estimates in both approaches increased in the stands consisting of separated groups of trees, which indicates potential limitation of the approaches and need for their further development. • Applicability of aerial surveys for biomass estimate in Chernobyl forests was tested. • Canopy height models of the studied stands were derived from photogrammetric datasets. • Biomass inventories correlated well with the average values of canopy height models. • Biomass inventories also correlated with the parameters of individual trees. • Accuracy of biomass estimates was high in the dense forest stands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]