Albedo neutrons of the earth's atmosphere and their distribution in space near the earth

Abstract

During 1960–62 at Yakutsk measurements were made with balloons for the determination of the albedo neutron flux in the earth's atmosphere. The neutrons were detected by counters filled with BF3. The measurements were used to determine the altitudinal distribution of neutrons with the cadmium cutoff energy and from thermal energies up to 105 eV. The corresponding fluxes at the boundary of the atmosphere were found to be 0.035 neutron cm−2 s −1 and 0.48–0.58 neutron cm−2 s −1 by extrapolation of measurements in the atmosphere. The total albedo neutron flux throughout the spectrum is 1.2–1.4 neutron cm−2 s−1. The calculated distribution of the flux of slow albedo neutrons and the density of their decay were obtained in space near the earth up to about 60 000 km.