Usage Limitations of Field Strength Probes for RADHAZ Survey

The radiation hazard (RADHAZ) survey is commonly done using field strength probes. These probes are inherently wideband and thus non-selective, what makes them a good choice for quick wideband surveys. On the other hand, this characteristic presents a problem when trying to discriminate signals in a multifrequency environment. The most commonly used diode-based probes have another significant drawback: some probes are very sensitive to the waveform of the measured signal. As shown by the measurement experiment described in this paper, the measurement result of such a probe can show overestimated value of the field strength, which is still usable for the worst-case RADHAZ analysis. Also, the experiment shows that such probes can show the underestimation of the field strength, which makes them unusable for RADHAZ survey. Knowing this, some guidelines on the probe usage and RADHAZ survey procedures are given.