Welcome to the website of the Stichting (Foundation) Earth AntineutRino TomograpHy (Stichting EARTH). The Stichting was established by the University of Groningen, ASTRON in Dwingeloo, both in the Netherlands, and the Foundation JADE, Willemstad Curaçao on 1 September 2005. The Stichting EARTH is registered at the Chamber of Commerce Groningen (#02089994). The Dutch Revenue system has given Stichting EARTH the status of an Organisation serving the Public Interest (ANBI). Donations are therefore exempted from taxes.

The Stichting EARTH aims to promote and conduct technological and scientific research to map the radiogenic (produced by nuclear processes) heat sources in the Earth’s interior. In naturally occurring nuclear-decay processes antineutrinos are produced. Antineutrinos produced in such processes in the Earth are named geoneutrinos.

Antineutrinos are elementary particles they are produced when in atomic nuclei a neutron is converted into a proton and an electron (β--decay). Antineutrinos are electrically neutral and have a very small mass. Their interaction with matter is almost negligible and it requires special, large size detector systems to detect them.

Heat sources in the Earth’s interior are hardly known. We know that the heat flow at the Earth’s surface is very irregular and amounts to a total of 45 TW (1TW=1012W). This is more than the heat produced by all electricity power stations together. The internal heat sources in the Earth are the motor for the geomagnetic field and for plate tectonics that are often triggering earthquakes, volcanic activities and even every now and then tsunamis.

Antineutrinos are produced in the nuclear power reactors. Monitoring antineutrinos is the only direct way to control the efficiency of such reactors and to safeguard the operation of the reactors according to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

This website contains a description (in English) of the Programme Earth AntineutRino TomograpHy EARTH). It contains three sections: General, Organisation and Science. We apologise for the inconvenience that our science section is still under construction.


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