Download of historical ODL data

The data files contain daily mean values of the local dose rate registered at all active measuring stations operated by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection within one year. They are zipped with Info-Zip and contain the following columns:

• Postal code and location: Georeferencing of the measuring station
• Time stamp: Date of the daily mean value (time in UTC)
• Measured value: Gamma dose rate in Mikrosievert per hour (μSv/h)

Using the data

If you wish to use the data collected by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), please note the following:

The Federal Office for Radiation Protection is the author of the data from the ODL measuring network, unless stated otherwise. For the avoidance of doubt we wish to point out that § 62 and § 63 of the German Copyright law (UrhG) apply:

• When data is used it is strictly prohibited to change such data, its contents, its title or the reference to the author (§ 62 para 1 UrhG). The provisions set out in § 62, para 2 and para 3 UrhG define the changes that may be admissible.
• When using any of the data or any of the applications based on these data, the source, the name of the author and the publication reference must be clearly indicated in recognition of the relevant authorship (§ 63 para 1 UrhG).

Any failure to comply with the provisions of the copyright laws shall be deemed to be a violation of such laws. In this case BfS reserves the right to take legal action to ensure the enforcement of its rights. By downloading and saving the data the user accepts the terms of use.

Furthermore we wish to refer explicitly to the Legal notice that applies to the internet pages of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection. Please note that the technical procedure for providing the data and the format have not been finally defined so that changes can be made at any time and without prior announcement.

Since this is a highly sensitive topic, BfS asks you to present the gamma ambient dose rate data in an objective manner if you use it in a publication. On your request BfS will be pleased to help you with technical explanations and scientific background knowledge.

Data

The ODL daily mean values on this page were reviewed and bear a key to verify the originality of the data. Daily mean values are only calculated if the measuring station was active the whole day and if at least 80 percent of the individual values are available and accurate. Implausible measuring values and thus gaps in the time series are due to different reasons including:

• Quality assurance measurements: in these cases a radioactive source was attached to the probe for 30 minutes
• Defective components or external interference (such as switching operations at industrial plants in the vicinity) that can produce individual peaks with a very high amplitude (see also under Interpretation of measurements)
• Long-term power failures (more than two days)
• Maintenance work or exchange of probes

Jumps in the time series including a long-term modification of the level might be caused by earthworks in the vicinity of the probe or by other alterations in the ambient conditions. Smaller differences can also be seen in the case of a renewal of obsolete probes. Maintenance work on the measuring network also includes regular relocations of probes. This may cause individual time series to break off abruptly.