Radionuclides in the atmosphere are associated with nonradioactive air particulates and hence serve to trace the fluxes of air particulates to various surfaces. Natural and artificial radioactivities found in the atmosphere have been measured in vegetation for 10 years to elucidate some of the mechanisms of acquirement by forest trees of atmospheric particulates. Whole tree analysis, in conjunction with soil assay, has served to establish the fraction of the flux of radionuclides retained by above‐ground tissues of a forest stand. Interpretation is facilitated because most radionuclides in the atmosphere are superficially acquired. Typically 5–20% of the total open field flux is retained by the forest canopy in a moderately rainy climate (120 cm/year). Short‐lived daughters of radon give a dry deposition velocity of particulates in the Aitken size range of 0.03–0.05 cm/s, thus permitting an estimate of transient removal by forest canopies by dry deposition of this size fraction.
