Nuclear spectroscopy for in situ soil elemental analysis: Monte Carlo simulations

We developed a model to simulate a novel inelastic neutron scattering (INS) system for in situ non-destructive analysis of soil using standard Monte Carlo Neutron Photon (MCNP5a) transport code. The volumes from which 90%, 95%, and 99% of the total signal are detected were estimated to be 0.23 m3, 0.37 m3, and 0.79 m3, respectively. Similarly, we assessed the instrument's sampling footprint and depths. In addition we discuss the impact of the carbon's depth distribution on sampled depth.

► MCNP soil simulations for quantitative gamma-ray spectroscopy. ► Operational definition of volume and sampled depth in an infinitely large samples. ► Limitation in the neutron cross section data. ► Calibration versus correlation. ► Use of synthetic soils.