Date of Award

Spring 5-2013

Degree Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

Physics and Astronomy

First Advisor

Chris Winstead

Advisor Department

Physics and Astronomy

Abstract

Accurate radiation measurements are very important for a variety of health, security, and industrial applications. The work described in this thesis is based upon developing a correction for the response of a sodium iodide (NaI) gamma-ray detector that is accurate enough to be used for determination of small mass-attenuation coefficients, such as for air, with short distance measurements. The goal is to find and apply appropriate corrections for the raw data provided by the NaI detector to enable the measurement of the gamma-ray mass-attenuation coefficients of air for detection distances of less than 1 meter. If measurements of the mass-attenuation coefficient of air produce values comparable to those provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the results and experimental and analysis processes have the potential to help researchers correct radiation detection data from long range measurements.

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