Method for detecting moisture in soils using secondary cosmic radiation

Abstract: Water content in a soil is determined by measuring the attenuation of secondary background cosmic radiation as this radiation propagates through a layer of soil and water. By measuring the attenuation of secondary cosmic radiation in the range of 5 MeV-15 MeV it is possible to obtain a relative measure of the water content in a soil layer above a suitable radiation detector and thus establish when and how much irrigation is needed. The electronic circuitry is designed so that a battery pack can be used to supply power.
Filed: 10/29/2001
Application Number: 10/4291
This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The Government has certain rights in the invention.
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