Detection of cavities in a salt mine with cosmic muons: expected results and first data

Detection of cavities in a salt mine with cosmic muons: expected results and first data | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Detection of cavities in a salt mine with cosmic muons: expected results and first data Giulio Saracino, Gabor Nyitrai, Fabio Ambrosino, Antonio Anastasio, and 11 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6766916/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 01 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Renewable energy dependence on variable weather creates mismatches with energy demand. One possible solution is to produce and store green hydrogen by energy surpluses for later use. While surface storage options are limited, subsurface storage in salt caverns (200 m to 2 km deep) is more suitable due to their favorable properties. However, imaging these caverns is difficult because traditional geophysical methods often lack the resolution or depth penetration needed, making it challenging to study such formations effectively. Many of the limitations of conventional geophysical prospecting methods can be addressed by Muon Radiography (MR), an advanced technique that uses cosmic muons to detect underground density variations. Because muons penetrate deeply, their attenuation reveals information about the density and structure of the material, allowing for the identification of cavities with high spatial resolution over several hundred meters. This article presents a MR project aimed at imaging and characterizing underground salt caverns in southern Sicily. A muon detector was first installed at the surface to collect a calibration sample of free-sky muons, then moved to an underground gallery at -106 m ASL to test the method near a known tunnel. The paper includes expected results from synthetic data and first data analysis from the calibration sample. Physical sciences/Physics/Particle physics/Experimental particle physics Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences/Geophysics Physical sciences/Energy science and technology/Energy storage/Hydrogen storage/Underground hydrogen storage Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 01 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 23 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 19 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 18 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 04 Jun, 2025 Editor invited by journal 04 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 30 May, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 29 May, 2025 First submitted to journal 28 May, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6766916","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":466929029,"identity":"e94974e0-0d96-43c5-9ffb-669374876889","order_by":0,"name":"Giulio Saracino","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAu0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYNACAwYGfiB1AIh5iNci2QDVQqweoK4DUAZBLfLtZx9++FFwR874Ru7BwwU1DDL2BA0/k24s2WPwzNjsRl7C4RnHiHCYAUMagzSDweHEbTdyDA7zsBGhRb7/GfNvkJbNM0Ba/hHj/RtpbGBbNkgAtfC2EeOwG8/YLHsMDhtLnHkD1NInwcNzgKDD0phv/PhzWI6/Pcf4M883G3v2BoIuQwUSJKofBaNgFIyCUYAVAADBAjizKwffJgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Naples Federico II","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Giulio","middleName":"","lastName":"Saracino","suffix":""},{"id":466929030,"identity":"d24e2fc2-360f-4b42-9326-508211dd6eee","order_by":1,"name":"Gabor Nyitrai","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Naples Federico II","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gabor","middleName":"","lastName":"Nyitrai","suffix":""},{"id":466929031,"identity":"f94cca45-5391-4315-a779-fd6078f79444","order_by":2,"name":"Fabio Ambrosino","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Naples Federico II","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fabio","middleName":"","lastName":"Ambrosino","suffix":""},{"id":466929032,"identity":"907e5e71-03dd-4e5a-9787-bc959797821b","order_by":3,"name":"Antonio Anastasio","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"INFN Sezione di Napoli","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Antonio","middleName":"","lastName":"Anastasio","suffix":""},{"id":466929033,"identity":"1c66d867-3ee7-478a-b1b8-8b9a00c2e421","order_by":4,"name":"Giuseppina Anzelmo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Naples Federico II","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Giuseppina","middleName":"","lastName":"Anzelmo","suffix":""},{"id":466929034,"identity":"bfd741b8-f80c-4080-9ae1-132c984dc9ca","order_by":5,"name":"Carla Aramo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"INFN Sezione di Napoli","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carla","middleName":"","lastName":"Aramo","suffix":""},{"id":466929035,"identity":"5c08fdee-6041-4693-b0b7-d0d6a7b8a9ea","order_by":6,"name":"Vincenzo Bottiglieri","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Naples Federico II","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vincenzo","middleName":"","lastName":"Bottiglieri","suffix":""},{"id":466929036,"identity":"1ad5f748-d52c-4d64-b9d9-9b558e01c9c7","order_by":7,"name":"Luigi Cimmino","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Naples Federico II","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Luigi","middleName":"","lastName":"Cimmino","suffix":""},{"id":466929037,"identity":"e30be994-be10-4776-b84c-e37ce1c80986","order_by":8,"name":"Ishan Darshana","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Naples Federico II","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ishan","middleName":"","lastName":"Darshana","suffix":""},{"id":466929038,"identity":"7b3cb9a8-2ae9-468d-8283-e09467effc32","order_by":9,"name":"Diego Di Martire","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Naples Federico II","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Diego","middleName":"Di","lastName":"Martire","suffix":""},{"id":466929039,"identity":"65890f65-f288-454d-939c-cdadff1b3b03","order_by":10,"name":"David Iacopini","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Naples Federico II","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"David","middleName":"","lastName":"Iacopini","suffix":""},{"id":466929040,"identity":"a6dbb92c-dd16-4622-8e1c-7d65afbd1148","order_by":11,"name":"Maria Alessandra Letizia","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Naples Federico II","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maria","middleName":"Alessandra","lastName":"Letizia","suffix":""},{"id":466929041,"identity":"fc7f47bd-a6cb-4c89-b4a3-05176c414b22","order_by":12,"name":"Vincenzo Masone","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"INFN Sezione di Napoli","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vincenzo","middleName":"","lastName":"Masone","suffix":""},{"id":466929042,"identity":"30ed8c39-185e-4f08-b331-5ea96559fbcd","order_by":13,"name":"Marco Mirra","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"INFN Sezione di Napoli","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marco","middleName":"","lastName":"Mirra","suffix":""},{"id":466929043,"identity":"1498c565-e414-41a2-99b9-2ecff31d67b0","order_by":14,"name":"Leopoldo Repola","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Naples Federico II","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Leopoldo","middleName":"","lastName":"Repola","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-28 10:08:17","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6766916/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6766916/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-11685-5","type":"published","date":"2025-10-01T15:57:55+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":92884021,"identity":"d6e9e044-555e-4b3e-8a76-d8a1102e8cfd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 16:12:10","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":8229296,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SciRepRealmonte.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6766916/v1_covered_2c2ffaf7-77a2-4be1-84a5-d328aac99c6a.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Detection of cavities in a salt mine with cosmic muons: expected results and first data","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6766916/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6766916/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Renewable energy dependence on variable weather creates mismatches with energy demand. One possible solution is to produce and store green hydrogen by energy surpluses for later use. While surface storage options are limited, subsurface storage in salt caverns (200 m to 2 km deep) is more suitable due to their favorable properties. However, imaging these caverns is difficult because traditional geophysical methods often lack the resolution or depth penetration needed, making it challenging to study such formations effectively. Many of the limitations of conventional geophysical prospecting methods can be addressed by Muon Radiography (MR), an advanced technique that uses cosmic muons to detect underground density variations. Because muons penetrate deeply, their attenuation reveals information about the density and structure of the material, allowing for the identification of cavities with high spatial resolution over several hundred meters. This article presents a MR project aimed at imaging and characterizing underground salt caverns in southern Sicily. A muon detector was first installed at the surface to collect a calibration sample of free-sky muons, then moved to an underground gallery at -106 m ASL to test the method near a known tunnel. The paper includes expected results from synthetic data and first data analysis from the calibration sample.","manuscriptTitle":"Detection of cavities in a salt mine with cosmic muons: expected results and first data","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-06-06 10:31:32","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6766916/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-06-23T08:55:36+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-06-19T17:44:40+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-06-18T18:52:58+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"105720754714936021900688410863318003895","date":"2025-06-06T14:29:57+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"121861373885617618042844238369371349584","date":"2025-06-04T19:46:03+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-06-04T07:07:22+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-06-04T06:49:10+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-05-30T12:36:38+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-05-30T01:37:26+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-05-28T09:59:36+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"9343626e-484c-463d-ba7b-fbaf7e7f64c1","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 6th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":49574079,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Particle physics/Experimental particle physics"},{"id":49574080,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences/Geophysics"},{"id":49574081,"name":"Physical sciences/Energy science and technology/Energy storage/Hydrogen storage/Underground hydrogen storage"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-10-06T16:07:05+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-6766916","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-11685-5","journal":{"identity":"scientific-reports","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Scientific Reports"},"publishedOn":"2025-10-01 15:57:55","publishedOnDateReadable":"October 1st, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-06-06 10:31:32","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41598-025-11685-5","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-11685-5","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6766916","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6766916","identity":"rs-6766916","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}