The significant variations in time exhibited by background radiation hinders a sensitive recognition of human-induced factors. A comprehensive study in the Netherlands has examined the influence of the various natural processes on the natural background using six years data from the Dutch nuclear emergency network. Results presented concentrate on temporal variations in ambient dose-equivalent rate, H*(10), and have led to simple expressions to model the ambient dose rate using a limited set of readily available parameters, i.e. air pressure, deposition rate and equilibrium equivalent decay product concentration of 222Rn, EEDC. Best values and uncertainty ranges of the applied parameters are reported. Remaining variations, e.g. due to variations in the cosmic radiation intensity and the radon soil profile, are shown to be small in the Netherlands, with one exception when the cosmogenic dose rate at sea level was decreased for a period of months due to a global deflection of the earth's magnetic field in the summer of 1991. The resulting compensation method for the natural ambient dose rate enables sensitive detection of anomalies, supporting the surveillance of nuclear installations and the management of nuclear emergency networks.