Determination of Elevation with Muon Flux Measurements

Clara Sobery, Sabrina Sobery, and Dr. Richard Lombardini

St. Mary’s University (San Antonio, TX)

Global positioning underground or underwater requires the need for a technique that does not utilize a signal transmitter. Additionally, global positioning systems and cellular services also experience disruptions above sea level in rural areas. The obstructed communications of dead zones and below-sea-level surveillance can cause life-impacting predicaments when exact locations cannot be pinpointed. However, due to the ubiquitousness of cosmic muons, devices that can detect muon flux may be a substitute for the measurement of elevation. Using the special theory of relativity and the Bethe-Bloch formula, we were able to calculate elevation from muon stopping rate and lifetime measurements. Data points were taken at many different spots within our local geographical region. In addition, the limitations of the method were estimated with error analysis. The equipment used for this study was the TeachSpin Muon Detector developed by Thomas Coan, Tiankuan Liu, and Jingbo Ye, from the Physics Department at Southern Methodist University.