Development of muography data processing and procedures, inversion and precision parameter analysis based on measurements performed at the Jánossy Underground Laboratory

Muography is a rapidly evolving interdisciplinary field that uses cosmic-ray muons to image the internal structure of large objects. Muons are highly penetrating particles whose energy loss depends on the distance traveled in a medium (e.g., rock) and on the medium’s density. By detecting and analyzing muons that pass through an object, it is possible to reconstruct its internal density distribution. This emerging method offers new opportunities in areas such as mining, volcano monitoring, cave exploration, archaeology, and structural diagnostics.

The muography project portfolio of HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics is actively engaged in developing hardware and software for muography detectors, as well as in advancing data-processing techniques and exploring potential applications. We maintain several international collaborations, within which multiple successful measurements have been conducted in active European mines.

In this presentation, we focus on muograpic measurements conducted in the Jánossy Underground Laboratory. This lab is located on the KFKI Campus in Budapest, Hungary, provides a well-characterized environment ideally suited for testing our detectors and evaluating the various steps of muography data processing. The main objective of this measurement program is to build a comprehensive dataset that supports the refinement of data processing methods, the testing of different inversion techniques, and precision parameter analysis using well-defined artificial anomalies (tunnels). We will discuss the results of a series of measurements carried out at the laboratory and the developments derived from these studies: 

- validation of the direct problem

-inversion distortion analysis and sensitivity test

-precision parameter analysis (diameter, direction, position) using known tunnels