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2017 muography of Etna volcano North-East crater. The image shows a map of the ratio R of muon flux through the mountain to that coming from the open-sky, i.e. without attenuation. R values are displayed as a function of X and Y displacements, Δx and Δy, between the entrance and exit coordinates of muon tracks in the telescope external planes.
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At Mount Etna volcano, the focus point of persistent tectonic extension is represented by the Summit Craters. A muographic telescope has been installed at the base of the North-East Crater from August 2017 to October 2019, with the specific aim to find time related variations in the density of volcanic edifice. The results are significant, since th...
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... Fig. 4 showed that about 50 m below the edge of the NEC the muon flux through the upper region of the NEC was high. In this case, the interpretation may be given in terms of the fractures that migrated from Figure 3. A sketch of the MEV telescope, made by three position sensitive detectors (PSD), segmented into X and Y oriented scintillating ...
Citations
... The maximum acceptance at r 0, 0 of 64 cm 2 sr with an angular aperture of ±57 • .Carbone et al. ( 2013 ) describe a telescope with N x = N y = 16 strips, a pixel side d = 5 cm, and a separation D = 170 cm. The maximum acceptance at r 0, 0 of 5.54 cm 2 sr.Presti et al. ( 2020 ) describe a muon-tracking detector of two layers of N x = N y = 99 extruded plastic scintillator bars, a pixel side d = 1 cm, and a separation D = 97 cm. The angular aperture is approximately ±45 • , with a maximum angular resolution of 4.25 × 10 −4 sr and a maximum acceptance at r 0, 0 of 1.04 cm 2 sr.In reference(Lesparre et al. 2012 ), the authors design a telescope with N x = N y = 16 strips, a pixel side d = 5 cm, and a separation D = 115 cm. ...
Muography is an imaging technique that relies on the attenuation of the muon flux traversing geological or anthropogenic structures. Several simulation frameworks help to perform muography studies by combining specialized codes: for muon generation through muon transport to muon detector performance. This methodology is precise but requires significant computational resources and time. We present an end-to-end python-based MUographY Simulation Code, which implements a muography simulation framework capable of rapidly estimating muograms of any geological structure worldwide. This framework considers the generated muon flux as the observation point; the energy loss of muons passing through the geological target; the integrated muon flux detected by the telescope and estimates the 3-D density distribution of the target using algebraic reconstruction techniques. The simulations ignore the relatively small muon flux variance caused by geomagnetic effects, solar modulation and atmospheric conditions. We validate the code performance by comparing our simulation results with data from other frameworks.
... The muonography method is used to study large, up to kilometer-sized objects: natural (mountains, volcanoes, glacial plates, structural features on other planets), industrial (mines, bridges, dams, blast furnaces, nuclear reactors), historical and architectural (pyramids, buildings, temples, grottoes, etc.) [11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Numerous muonography experiments are currently being conducted around the world [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. A key feature of the method is non-invasiveness of the research, i.e. it allows studying the internal structure of objects without violation their integrity. ...
The results of muonographic study of two objects in the cave complex of the unique historical and archaeological memorial, the Holy Dormition Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery, are presented. The experimental technology is based on the use of nuclear emulsion detectors.
... Using the measured angular dependent muon count maps, the corresponding projective density distributions are determined through the objects via flux modeling. The number of the applications is continuously growing and muography is under development toward its societal implementation in geophysical exploration, [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] in natural hazard assessment, [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] and in monitoring of industrial sites, infrastructures [44][45][46][47][48] as well as cultural heritages. [49][50][51][52] Concerning the assessment of flow hazards and mitigation of the corresponding sediment and flood catastrophes, muography has already been applied in the following case studies: Olá h et al. applied muography for monitoring the changes in deposited tephra on the ridge of Sakurajima volcano occurred due to post-eruptive lahars and water-driven erosion triggered by intense rainfalls. ...
Debris dams have a crucial role in consolidation of river basins and allow erosion control, flood protection in mountainous areas. Many of these infrastructures have operated over five decades, thus structural health monitoring (SHM) of these infrastructures became timely due to their aging. Utilizing new techniques is required for inspecting a large number of dams and deciding about their reinforcement or reconstruction. In this work, we propose cosmic-ray muography as a complementary tool for the SHM of debris dams. We conducted the first muographic surveying of a sabo check dam in the Karasu River, Gunma, Japan. The average mass density image was produced with a spatial resolution of 0.5 m through the dam. The comparison of density data reconstructed by muography and gamma-ray logging suggest the internal deterioration of dam in the region where cement released out from the embankment body.
... Scintillator-based particle detectors are well-established tools for muography (Tanaka et al. 2003 ;Marteau et al. 2012 ;Saracino et al. 2016 ;Lo Presti et al. 2020 ;Pe ˜ na-Rodr íguez et al. 2020 ). With their robust, modular and relati vel y simplified design compared to highenergy physics detectors, they are appropriate to deal with the main challenge of rough field operations (Lesparre et al. 2012a ). ...
Muography is increasingly used to image the density distribution of volcanic edifices, complementing traditional geophysical tomographies. Here we present a new muon data processing algorithm, and apply it to a new generation of scintillator-based muon detectors, to image the relative density distribution in La Soufriére de Guadeloupe volcano (Lesser Antilles, France). Our processing method iteratively searches for the best fit of each muon trajectory, accounting for all the hits registered by the detector related to the particular muon event. We test the performance of our algorithm numerically, simulating the interaction of muons with our detector and accounting for its exact assemblage including the scintillator bars and lead shielding. We find that our new data processing mitigates the impact of spurious signals coming from secondary particles, and improves the amount of successfully reconstructed events. The resulting two-dimensional muon images at La Soufriére have higher angular resolution than previous ones and capture the heterogeneous structure of the dome. They show density anomalies located on the summit southern region, which includes a boiling acid lake and degassing fractures, where the rock is the most porous and fumarolic activity is ongoing. This work shows the importance of combining numerical simulations of muon propagation with precise raw data processing to obtain high-quality results. It is also a first step towards fully assessing the noise contamination sources when performing muon tomography, and their correction, prior to geophysical interpretations.
... Additionally, the muon is subjected to less radiative energy loss processes (Bremsstrahlung, direct pair production, and photonuclear interaction) than electrons; these factors further contribute to its penetrative nature. These unique qualities of muons have been utilized by muography, a technique which uses the muon as a probe to image the internal structure of geological objects and has been applied to various volcanoes including Asama volcano, 20 Usu volcano, 21 Sakurajima volcano, [22][23][24] Vesuvio volcano, 25 Stromboli volcano, 26 Etna volcano, 27 Satsuma-Iwojima volcano, 28 La Soufriere volcano, 29 and Puy de Dome volcano, 30 cultural heritage targets including a pyramid, 31,32 an underground ruin, [33][34][35] and time synchronization. 36 MuWNS and muPS are more recent new techniques which also utilize the muon probe. ...
Navigation in indoor and underground environments has been extensively studied to realize automation of home, hospital, office, factory and mining services, and various techniques have been proposed for its implementation. By utilizing the relativistic and penetrative nature of cosmic-ray muons, a completely new wireless navigation technique called wireless muometric navigation system (MuWNS) was developed. This paper shows the results of the world’s first physical demonstration of MuWNS used on the basement floor inside a building to navigate (a person) in an area where global navigation satellite system (GNSS)/ global positioning system (GPS) signals cannot reach. The resultant navigation accuracy was comparable or better than the positioning accuracy attainable with single-point GNSS/GPS positioning in urban areas. With further improvements in stability of local clocks used for timing, it is anticipated that MuWNS can be adapted to improve autonomous mobile robot navigation and positioning as well as other underground and underwater practical applications.
... The maximum acceptance in r0,0 is 5.54 cm 2 sr. Lo Presti et al. describe a muon-tracking detector of two layers of Nx = Ny = 99 extruded plastic scintillator bars, a pixel side d = 1 cm, and a separation D = 97 cm (Presti et al.(2020)). The angular aperture is about ±45 • , the angular resolution has a maximum of 4.25×10 −4 sr and the maximum acceptance in r0,0 is 1.04 cm 2 sr. ...
Muography is an imaging technique based on attenuation of the directional muon flux traversing geological or anthropic structures. Several simulation frameworks help to perform muography studies by combining specialised codes from the muon generation (CORSIKA and CRY) and the muon transport (GEANT4, PUMAS, and MUSIC) to the detector performance (GEANT4). This methodology is very precise but consumes significant computational resources and time. In this work, we present the end-to-end python-based MUographY Simulation Code. MUYSC implements a muography simulation framework capable of rapidly estimating rough muograms of any geological structure worldwide. MUYSC generates the muon flux at the observation place, transports the muons along the geological target, and determines the integrated muon flux detected by the telescope. Additionally, MUYSC computes the muon detector parameters (acceptance, solid angle, and angular resolution) and reconstructs the 3-dimensional density distribution of the target. We evaluated its performance by comparing it with previous results of several simulation frameworks.
... GCRs are de ected during their propagation in the galaxy and lose their initial directional information before arriving the Earth; therefore, they uniformly precipitate onto the Earth. A technique called muography uses muons to visualize the internal structure of gigantic objects, taking advantage of the muon's universality and their relativistic (hence, penetrative) nature; muography has been applied to many large structures including volcanoes in Europe 22,23,24 47 , and post-quantum cryptography 48 . ...
Underground and underwater are challenging environments for communication where electromagnetic (EM) waves are strongly attenuated and do not penetrate easily. Very low frequency band signals have long EM wavelengths that can penetrate dense media. However, the base station transmitter for artificially generating long EM wavelengths requires high power consumption for operation; moreover, there are limitations on the types of matter it may pass through. For instance, and the signal cannot penetrate highly conductive materials. In this work, Message transfer to Underground/undersea with COsmic Muons (MUCOM), a slow but robust message transfer method that sends messages from the surface to shallow underground environments regardless of the material type located between the sender and the receiver, are proposed. This communication method is especially suitable under emergency circumstances, for example, it can be used for direct point-to-point message transfer to trapped people or to turn on automated emergency service equipment inside a collapsed subway tunnel. Based on the experimental and numerical analysis, it was found that a detector size of > 1.1–4.5 m ² would be required to attain a data rate higher than 0.01 bps when sending a message from the surface into a typical subway tunnel (at depths of 5–20 m). It is anticipated that MUCOM would be well suited for specific applications such as for sending brief communications to underground locations during accidents or other emergencies.
... They have been used as probes for imaging gigantic objects such as volcanoes, ocean tides, and cultural heritage sites. [39][40][41][42][43] Cosmic-ray muons lose only a small fraction of their energy, mostly by ionization, as they traverse through matter. The transverse momenta of the parent mesons generate the lateral spread of the muon component, but compared to the electron, the muon's multiple scattering contribution is much smaller since it is suppressed by a factor of (m e /m m ) 2 . ...
By using true random number (TRN) generators, encoding with the highest security can be realized. However, a completely secure strategy to transfer these TRNs has not yet been devised. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) has attempted to establish secure key distribution methodology of this kind, however several quantum cracking strategies have been predicted and experimentally demonstrated. In this work, COSMOCAT was invented as a solution for next-generation ultra-high security near-field communications. With COSMOCAT, TRNs are generated from naturally occurring and ubiquitous cosmic-ray muons and the generated cosmic keys are distributed by these muons with an unprecedented level of security. The successful results of this experiment indicate that our prototype and the new key-generation-and-distribution standard can be utilized for practical encoding and near field data transfer at rates of 10-100 Mbps. It is anticipated that COSMOCAT will be one of key techniques for future high security, near-field communication management.
... barometric effects [4][5][6] , mid-altitude temperature effects [7][8][9] , tidal effects in ocean bottom measurements 10 ). In the last decade, radiography using the high penetration power of the muons has been highlighted (muography) and applied to the inspection of volcanoes [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] , glaciers 20 , seismic faults 21,22 , mineral deposits 23 , archeological sites 24 , etc. Neutrino radiography (component iv) is considered to be a promising probe for far deep structures, including the core of the Earth 25,26 because of their extremely high penetration power. In addition, increasing attention is paid to measurements of cosmic-ray-induced neutrons (component iii) as a useful tool for monitoring snow depth [27][28][29] and soil moisture content [30][31][32] . ...
In-situ measurements of soil water content provide important constraints on local/global hydrology. We demonstrate that the attenuation of the underground flux of cosmic-ray electromagnetic (EM) particles can be used to monitor the variation of soil water content after rainfalls. We developed a detection system that preferably selects EM particles by considering the coincidence of distant plastic scintillators. The calibration test beneath the water pool revealed that the count rate decreased by 0.6–0.7% with a 1 cm increase in the water level. The field measurement performed in the horizontal tunnel showed that the count rate dropped according to 48-h precipitation, after correcting the effects originating from atmospheric and water vapour pressures. These characteristics were confirmed using dedicated Monte Carlo simulations. This new method is called cosmic electromagnetic particle (CEMP) radiography.
... Pyramids are in the scale of tens of meters, but actually, the muography targets can range from submeter in homeland security [6] to kilometer-scale in volcanology applications [7]. The needed measuring times also vary greatly; e.g., in homeland security, the measuring times are in minutes [8], from hours [9] to months [10] in volcanology, and from weeks to months [11,12] in the mineral exploration or archaeological [5] applications. How the detector technologies are applied (surface, underground, or heliborne) depends on the aimed use. ...
Muography has many possibilities ranging from imaging volcanoes to observing civil infrastructures, industrial targets, or even small-scale objects. G. F. Knoll has laid out the fundamentals of radiation detection
and measurement of muon flux. However, what is still lacking is the testing and verification environments for muon detectors used in muography. This work will present a few thoughts on such a possible muography test and method validation site in terms of micro and macroscale validation environments and introduce one candidate location, Callio Lab, Finland.
