Application of Gamma-Ray Attenuation in Studying Soil Properties
M. E. Medhat *
Department of Experimental Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
A. Abdel-Hafiez
Department of Experimental Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The objective of this work is focused to calculate the total mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic numbers and electron densities in some soil samples for total and partial photon interactions in the wide energy range (1 keV–100 GeV). The values of these parameters have been found varied with composition of soil and energy while their trend has been found to be with all energies. The variations of these parameters according to energy are shown for all possible photon interactions. WinXCOM code was used to calculate soil mass attenuation coefficients. The obtained data should be important for comparing radiation sensitivity and radiation detection of soil. The results of this work can be used for research in other soils with different textiles.
Keywords: Soil, mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic number, effective electron number, WinXCOM