Importance of photo atomic cross section for studying physical properties of different types of soil

Abstract

The objective of this work is focused on development of a classification tool for identifying soil texture based on photon attenuation interaction atomic cross‐section data. The total mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ) and the atomic cross sections (σa) of soils with different textures have been calculated for total photon interactions in a wide energy range (1 keV to 100 GeV). The values of these parameters have been found to change with soil composition in low energies (1–100 keV), whereas their behavior has been found to be similar at all energies. Slight differences were observed in σa in the energy range of 0.01 to 10 MeV and more pronounced ones from 10 MeV to 100 GeV. Regarding μ/ρ, only small differences were observed among soils for all the energy range investigated. Differences between μ/ρ and σa considering different proportions of Fe2O3 and SiO2 were also observed. The reported data should be useful for studying soil texture according photo attenuation. The results of this work can stimulate research for all types of soil texture. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.