Neutron beam preparation for soil moisture measurements: Nedis-PHITS and artificial neural networks study

The angular distribution of thermal neutrons scattered from the surface of a soil sample was used to determine soil moisture content. All simulations were performed assuming optimal dimensions of the designed collimator and AmO₂-Be neutron source. Moreover, an assembly consisting of five Amersham X.l4 type capsular neutron sources was studied to obtain faster, more accurate data. The results showed promising agreement with previously published data and provided insights into potential applications for the construction of biological shielding of nuclear reactors.