Methods and systems for non-invasive measurement of soil chlorine and/or nitrogen content and for detecting sub-surface chlorine or nitrogen-containing objects
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture
InventorsHENRY A. TORBERT, III, STEPHEN A. PRIOR, ALEKSANDR G. KAVETSKIY, GALINA N. YAKUBOVA
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The presence of chlorine and nitrogen are determined and measured using a non-invasive portable neutron-generating and gamma ray detecting system(s). Portable devices of the present invention can also be used to detect chlorine and/or nitrogen-containing underground objects rapidly and on-site. Devices and systems described herein can be operated remotely and pre-programmed with search patterns, guided by an operator remotely, or programmed to home in on high-chlorine and/or nitrogen concentration areas.
Claims26
-20. (canceled)
A detection system for determining the presence of nitrogen on, or below, a testable surface, comprising:
- a neutron generator assembly, for generating pulsed neutron beams;
- a moderator, positioned between the neutron generator assembly and the testable surface;
- gamma ray detector, positioned to detect a gamma ray response from materials on or below the testable surface when the neutron beams impinge the materials;
- and
- a gamma ray detector processor/controller comprising a split electronics processing system that separates gamma spectra acquired during a neutron pulse from the gamma spectra acquired between neutron pulses, the gamma ray detector processor/controller being in communication with the gamma ray detector and the neutron generator assembly, the gamma ray detector processor/controller being structured to collect thermal neutron capture (TNC) gamma spectra data between neutron beam pulses without consideration of resonant neutron time of flight;
- wherein, the gamma ray detector processor/controller is structured so that the presence of nitrogen is indicated when the TNC gamma ray spectra data indicates multiple count rate peaks with centroids in the range of about 9.2-11.6 MeV.
The detection system of claim 1 wherein the gamma ray detector is comprised of sodium iodate.
The detection system of claim 1 wherein gamma ray shielding is positioned between the neutron generator and the gamma ray detector.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.