Basic considerations for Monte Carlo calculations in soil

Monte Carlo codes are extensively used for probabilistic simulations of various physical systems. These codes are widely used in calculations of neutron and gamma ray transport in soil for radiation shielding, soil activation by neutrons, well logging industry, and in simulations of complex nuclear gauges for in soil measurements. However, these calculations are complicated by the diversity of soils in which the proportions of solid, liquid and gas vary considerably together with extensive variations in soil elemental composition, morphology, and density. Nevertheless use of these codes requires knowledge of the elemental composition and density of the soil and its physical characteristics as input information for performing these calculations. It is shown that not always all of the soil parameters are critical but depend on the objectives of the calculations. An approach for identifying soil elemental composition and some simplifying assumptions for implementing the transport codes are presented.