Measurement of cosmic ray neutrons with Bonner sphere spectrometer and neutron monitor at 79°N

Abstract

In 2007, a Bonner spheres spectrometer (BSS) was installed in Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen, at about 79°N. The spectrometer allows continuous measurement of the spectral fluence rate distribution of secondary neutrons from cosmic radiation in absolute terms. In this way, the system complements a neutron monitor (NM) that was installed in 2005, in Barentsburg, Spitsbergen, at about 78°N. To compare the readings of both systems, the NM response functions to neutrons and protons were calculated by means of the GEANT4 code, in the energy range between 10 meV and 100 GeV, and between 40 MeV and 10 GeV, respectively, using different intra-nuclear cascade (INC) models at energies above 20 MeV. Sample spectral fluence distributions as measured by means of the BSS system for neutrons in November and December 2007 were used and folded with the calculated GEANT4 NM response. The resulting calculated NM count rates were then compared to those actually measured by the NM system and a reasonable agreement between 7% and 43% was obtained, depending on the nuclear models used in the GEANT4 calculations and the assumed 10B enrichment of the NM counters used to detect the neutrons.