A dataset of 137Cs activity concentration and inventory in forests contaminated by the Fukushima accident

The majority of the area contaminated by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident is covered with forests. We developed a dataset for radiocaesium (Cs-137) in trees, soil, and mushrooms measured at numerous forest sites. The Cs-137 activity concentration and inventory data reported in scientific journal papers written in English and Japanese, governmental reports, and governmental monitoring data on the web were collated. The ancillary information describing the forest stands were also collated, and further environmental information (e.g. climate) was derived from the other databases using longitude and latitude coordinates of the sampling locations. The database contains 8593, 4105, and 3189 entries of activity concentration data for trees, soil, and mushrooms, and 471 and 3521 entries of inventory data for trees and soil, respectively, which were collected from 2011 to 2017, and covers the entire Fukushima prefecture. The data can be used to document and understand the spatio-temporal dynamics of radiocaesium in the affected region and to aid the development and validation of models of radiocaesium dynamics in contaminated forests. Measurement(s) activity (of a radionuclide) center dot Cesium Cs 137 Technology Type(s) digital curation Factor Type(s) geographic location Sample Characteristic - Organism Cryptomeria japonica center dot Chamaecyparis obtusa center dot Pinus densiflora center dot Quercus serrata Sample Characteristic - Environment temperate evergreen needleleaf forest center dot temperate deciduous broadleaf forest center dot leaf center dot wood center dot litter layer center dot forest soil center dot mushroom (food source) center dot bark center dot pollen Sample Characteristic - Location Japan center dot Fukushima Prefecture Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13166462