TY - JOUR
T1 - A nuclear emulsion detector for the muon radiography of a glacier structure
AU - Ariga, Akitaka
AU - Ariga, Tomoko
AU - Ereditato, Antonio
AU - Käser, Samuel
AU - Lechmann, Alessandro
AU - Mair, David
AU - Nishiyama, Ryuichi
AU - Pistillo, Ciro
AU - Scampoli, Paola
AU - Schlunegger, Fritz
AU - Vladymyrov, Mykhailo
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: This project is financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation as an interdisciplinary research project (159299).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2018/6
Y1 - 2018/6
N2 - Cosmic ray muons can be used to image the interior of geological sites provided that one employs detectors able to operate in the specific harsh conditions of the mountain environment. We designed and developed a detector exploiting the nuclear emulsion technique to assess the bedrock profile underneath an alpine glacier. Nuclear emulsions do not need any electric power supply or maintenance and allow for the measurement of the muon flux and direction behind a large target volume. The 3D density distribution of the material traversed by muons can then be assessed, bringing relevant information on the shape of the boundary between the glacial ice and the underlying bedrock. This new methodology in the geological field was recently tested in a campaign of measurements in the Jungfrau region of the central Swiss Alps. It was shown that the bedrock surface position can be measured with a resolution of about 5% when the traversed target is about 100 m thick. Characteristics and performance of the method are reported here and demonstrate that muon radiography based on emulsion detectors represents a powerful tool for the geological study of glaciers.
AB - Cosmic ray muons can be used to image the interior of geological sites provided that one employs detectors able to operate in the specific harsh conditions of the mountain environment. We designed and developed a detector exploiting the nuclear emulsion technique to assess the bedrock profile underneath an alpine glacier. Nuclear emulsions do not need any electric power supply or maintenance and allow for the measurement of the muon flux and direction behind a large target volume. The 3D density distribution of the material traversed by muons can then be assessed, bringing relevant information on the shape of the boundary between the glacial ice and the underlying bedrock. This new methodology in the geological field was recently tested in a campaign of measurements in the Jungfrau region of the central Swiss Alps. It was shown that the bedrock surface position can be measured with a resolution of about 5% when the traversed target is about 100 m thick. Characteristics and performance of the method are reported here and demonstrate that muon radiography based on emulsion detectors represents a powerful tool for the geological study of glaciers.
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U2 - 10.3390/instruments2020007
DO - 10.3390/instruments2020007
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85059476342
VL - 2
JO - Instruments
JF - Instruments
SN - 2410-390X
IS - 2
M1 - 7
ER -