COSMIC RAY NEUTRON STUDIES

This report presents a study of the neutrons generated by the cosmic radiation. A series of balloon flights were made, in which the neutrons in the energy range between one and ten Mevs were measured, throughout the atmosphere. These flights were made from various stations, over a range of latitudes...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Korff,Serge A, Mendell,Rosalind B, Sandie,William G
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospheric Physics
BERYLLIUM
CARBON
COSMIC RAYS
DIAGRAMS
ENERGY
FAST NEUTRONS
GRAPHS(CHARTS)
INTENSITY
METEOROLOGICAL BALLOONS
NEUTRON FLUX
Nuclear Physics & Elementary Particle Physics
PERIODIC VARIATIONS
RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES
SOLAR DISTURBANCES
TIME
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Summary:This report presents a study of the neutrons generated by the cosmic radiation. A series of balloon flights were made, in which the neutrons in the energy range between one and ten Mevs were measured, throughout the atmosphere. These flights were made from various stations, over a range of latitudes from near equatorial to near polar, and in time over several years. It was found that a large variation with solar activity exists, especially at the near-polar locations where the lowest-energy part of the incoming radiation is observable. The numbers of neutrons going into radiocarbon were calculated for various epochs as were the numbers escaping from the top of the atmosphere. The importance of studying the production of other isotopes including especially beryllium ten is stressed. Various solar acceleration mechanisms were also examined, with especial reference to those which on infrequent occasions inject spectacularly large amounts of radiation into the space surrounding the earth. (Author)