Heidelberg 2015 – scientific programme
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UP: Fachverband Umweltphysik
UP 16: Meßtechnik
UP 16.2: Talk
Friday, March 27, 2015, 11:00–11:15, G/gHS
Soil moisture sensing by cosmic ray induced neutron showers — •Markus Köhli1, Martin Schrön2, and Ulrich Schmidt1 — 1Physikalisches Institut, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany — 2Helmholtz Zentrum Für Umweltforschung, UFZ, Leipzig
Techniques for probing soil moisture at intermediate scales inbetween those of satellite based systems and local on site measurements have become a highly demanded field of research. Passive sensing of neutrons originating from cosmic particle air showers offers the possibility of detecting water by averaging over a large area. It is a characteristic feature of hydrogen to slow down neutrons very efficiently whereas heavier elements more likely reflect them. This leads to the spectrum of reflected neutrons being dependent on the water content in the environment. We present Monte Carlo based simulations to study the footprint of this method for various conditions. Intensity and range dependencies can furthermore now be described by analytical functions.