Greifswald 2024 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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UP: Fachverband Umweltphysik
UP 2: Soil and Water
UP 2.5: Vortrag
Montag, 26. Februar 2024, 17:45–18:00, ELP 6: HS 4
Correcting cosmic-ray neutrons for everything: latest attempts to isolate the soil water signal from external influences — •Martin Schrön1, Markus Köhli2, Jannis Weimar2, Daniel Rasche3, and Lasse Hertle1 — 1Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung GmbH - UFZ, Leipzig — 2Physikalisches Institut, Heidelberg University — 3Geoforschungszentrum - GFZ, Potsdam
Cosmic rays on Earth interact with the soil and are substantially moderated by hydrogen atoms. Since the reflected neutron flux is a function of the soil water content, cosmic-ray neutron measurements above the ground are widely used to estimate the average field soil moisture. However, many exernal factors spoil the accuracy of the product, which need to be corrected for. Cosmic rays do travel a long way from supernovae remnants through the solar system, the Earth's magnetosphere, the atmosphere, the biosphere, and the lithosphere, where each component has their challenges in store. Relevant effects are caused by, e.g., solar activity, the geomagnetic field, air pressure, air humidity, temperature, landscape heterogeneity, vegetation, snow, and even by scientists themselves. The list of influencing factors is long, and so is the number of approaches and proposed solutions. We will present the major influencing factors and discuss the latest attempts to tackle their correction.
Keywords: cosmic rays; neutron detection; soil water content; atmosphere; magnetosphere