Sandia National Laboratories recently developed a software application for mobile and traditional computing devices analyze gamma radiation data collected at the scene of an emergency involving radiation.
Sandia’s InterSpec team includes software developer and physicist Will Johnson and researchers Ethan Chan, Edward Walsh, and Noel Nachtigal.
The tool, known as InterSpec, is the result of a four-year project to create a radiation analysis tool that can easily be used by first responders who are not radiation experts.
“We’ve made InterSpec as easy as possible to use,” Chan said. “You don’t have to spend two or three years to learn the tool. InterSpec is really simple, both in how it looks and how you use it.”
The tool uses radiation physics, radiation transport calculations, and detector response functions and features a large radioisotope database. InterSpec runs on many platforms and all web browsers and does not require network connectivity. The tool also allows users to track their work, view, and edit metadata as well as automatically save spectrum files, which include location-embedded metadata for visualization on a map.
“InterSpec allows decision-makers to rapidly identify both radioisotopes and shielding materials around the source,” Johnson said. “InterSpec is also a valuable tool for laboratories and other academic and industrial settings where an accurate understanding of detected radiological material is crucial.”