Determination of Elevation with Muon Flux Measurments

Global positioning underground or underwater requires the need for a technique that does not utilize a signal transmitter. Additionally, global positioning systems and cellular services also experience disruptions above sea level in rural areas. The obstructed communications of dead zones and below-sea-level surveillance can cause life-impacting predicaments when ex- act locations cannot be pinpointed. However, due to the ubiquitousness of cosmic muons, devices that can detect muon flux may be used to de- duce elevation. Using the special theory of relativity and data collected from a CosmicWatch muon detector as cargo on a helium weather balloon (launched under the auspices of the NASA and NSF funded Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project), we were able to calculate elevation values from muon count rate measurements. In addition, the limitations of the method were estimated with error analysis.