This invention is an apparatus for the detection of indeterminate objects of interest contained within an encompassing medium using event detection including but not limited to radiation event counts. Methods currently in use for this purpose rely on prior knowledge of the object's characteristics (size, age, orientation, etc.), as in the case of detecting possible nuclear devices being transported by a vehicle. Additionally, these methods rely on the use of heavy lead shielding to eliminate the effects of background and atmospheric radiation, which makes the apparatus difficult to move and limits the size of the measurable area. Such methods are highly impractical for use in field studies, where the specific characteristics of objects of interest are often unknown and difficult terrain makes the use of heavy, unwieldy equipment impossible.

This apparatus eliminates the need for both a complete understanding of an object's characteristics and the use of heavy shielding by relying on statistical analysis of measured events such as local gamma radiation counts to determine the probability of an object's presence. A plurality of independent event detecting nodes is first used to establish the baseline event activity such as background radiation (including environmental factors) in the field area, at a location determined unlikely to contain objects of interest due to geologic context or previous digging. Once the baseline radiation is established, the apparatus can then be moved to locations more likely to contain objects of interest. Each node then independently detects and quantifies the profile of event activity to derive evidence, when compared to the baseline, of the probability that an object of interest is within the medium. The calculated probabilities are then used to guide exploratory digging by indicating the likely direction and depth of an object of interest relative to the apparatus. By differentially measuring event activity such as background radiation with a plurality of event detecting nodes that can aggregate and groom results and incorporate them into the statistical analysis for in a specific area of interest, the need for event shielding techniques such as using heavy lead shielding is eliminated, making the resulting apparatus light and portable for easy use in the field. Additionally, it is unnecessary to know the specific characteristics of an object of interest, as the detected fluctuations of events such as gamma radiation are only meant to indicate the probability that any object is present within the medium. The versatility of the apparatus due to its size, multi-sensory node design, statistical capabilities, and compatibilit

A method for determining a distribution of a uranium deposit is provided, including: acquiring a remote detection result of a target area; acquiring a chemical detection result of soil in the target area; delineating a plurality of exploration regions in the target area according to the remote detection result and the chemical detection result; and providing boreholes in the plurality of exploration regions for gamma detection to determine a distribution and a trend of a uranium deposit according to a result of the gamma detection.

A method for determining a distribution of a uranium deposit is provided, including: acquiring a remote detection result of a target area; acquiring a chemical detection result of soil in the target area; delineating a plurality of exploration regions in the target area according to the remote detection result and the chemical detection result; and providing boreholes in the plurality of exploration regions for gamma detection to determine a distribution and a trend of a uranium deposit according to a result of the gamma detection.

A device (12) for measuring the water content of the ground, vegetation and snow, comprises: at least one first module (20) adapted to measure a flow of cosmic rays incident to the ground; at least one second module (40) adapted to measure an ambient neutron flow; and a control unit (60) connected to said at least one first module (20) and said at least one second module (40). The control unit (60) is adapted to process the measurements of said at least one first module (20) and said at least one second module (40) to determine the measurement of the water content.

A wide area cosmogenic neutron sensor is used for detecting moisture within a measurement surface. A neutron detector is positioned on a stand structure holding the detector above a measurement surface. A moderator material and neutron shield are positioned around at least a portion of the neutron detector. The neutron shield substantially covers an entirety of a bottom of the neutron detector and is not positioned on a top side of the neutron detector. Wide area cosmogenic neutrons propagating from the measurement surface travel through an air space before arriving at the moderated neutron detector.

The present invention relates to a system (10) and method for the volumetric and isotopic identification of the spatial distribution of ionizing radiation from point or extensive radioactive sources (3) in radioactive surroundings. More specifically, this system (10) comprises a gamma radiation detector (2) and an optical transducer (1) joined to each other and linked to a control unit to detect the absolute position of radioactive sources (3) relative to a visual reference located in the radioactive surroundings, and to determine the radioactive activity of the sources, that is to say it detects the isotope composition of the radioactive sources (3).

A method for determining azimuthal formation information using neutron activation, wherein the formation is activated by a neutron source and the activation signal is measured by at least one detector trailing the neutron source during the logging operation. The number of detected gamma rays as a function of the detector azimuth may be used to provide azimuthal information for determining an image of the formation surrounding the borehole.

Estimating a correction factor from logs of compensated thermal neutron porosity measurements, including modeling each measurement of the compensated thermal neutron porosity measurements of the log as resulting from at least: i) a first contribution correlated to an absorbance of a first portion of neutrons produced by irradiation of the volume attributable to interactions in the volume indicative of pore space in the matrix, and ii) a second contribution correlated to an absorbance of a second portion of the neutrons attributable to trace elements of at least one dominant neutron absorber in the formation; iii) a third contribution correlated to an absorbance of a third portion of the neutrons attributable to dry minerals in the matrix other than dominant neutron absorbers; and estimating the second contribution and determining the correction factor from the second contribution; and correcting a compensated thermal neutron porosity measurement using the correction factor.

Multiple tagged neutrons are emitted from an associated particle imaging neutron generator. The tagged neutrons penetrate a target material and interact with the target material nucleuswhich emits nucleus-specific gamma rays. A gamma ray detector detects all gamma raysincluding the nucleus-specific gamma rays. An alpha-gamma timing spectrum is constructed for all detected gamma rays. For a specific energy level (MeV) corresponding with the target material nucleus, a peak in the alpha gamma timing spectrum indicates the presence of the target material. Based on the peaking time of the gamma rays (due to tagged neutrons interaction with the target material nucleus) in the alpha-gamma timing spectrum for the specific energy level, the distance from the neutron generator to the target material can be calculated. The nucleus-specific gamma ray spectrum data can be effectively collimated by programming the system to detect the gamma rays in a time window corresponding to the peaking time.

A method for determining azimuthal formation information using neutron activation, wherein the formation is activated by a neutron source and the activation signal is measured by at least one detector trailing the neutron source during the logging operation. The number of detected gamma rays as a function of the detector azimuth may be used to provide azimuthal information for determining an image of the formation surrounding the borehole.