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Abstract. The present work contains some results of observations of neutron flux variations near the Earth’s surface. The Earth’s crust is determined to be a significant source of thermal and slow neutrons, originated from the interaction between the nuclei of the elements of the Earth’s crust and the atmosphere and α-particles, produced by decay of radioactive gases (Radon, Thoron and Actinon). In turn, variations of radioactive gases exhalation is connected with geodynamical processes in the Earth’s crust, including tectonic activity. This determined relation between the processes in the Earth’s crust and neutrons’ flux allow to use variations of thermal and slow neutrons’ flux in order to observe increasing tectonic activity and to develop methods for short-term prediction of natural hazards.

Abstract. The distribution of the count rate of neutrons (per second) near the Earth's surface for two directions: towards the Earth and away from it, is studied using the experimental data, obtained in Moscow during 1996. The analysis shows that the mathematical approximation of the neutron count rate distribution can be described by a sum of two functions: a Poison distribution and a log-normal distribution. This is in agreement with the two known sources of the total neutron flux near the Earth's surface: generation of neutrons in nuclear interactions of high-energy cosmic ray particles with the Earth's atmosphere and neutron production in the Earth's crust. The log-normal distribution describes the contribution of the Earth's crust to the total neutron flux near the Earth. Therefore, these dynamic processes in the Earth's crust change the parameters of the log-normal distribution.

[1] We present a new experiment on the detection of thunderstorm neutrons at orbital altitudes. The aims of the experiment called "Scafandr" are to establish the nature of the neutrons and to explore their properties. Also, the dosimetric measurement program is included in the experiment mission. For the neutron program, measurement of the thermal neutron fluxes from an altitude of 350 km down to 200 km is planned. We plan to obtain substantial statistics and resolution of neutron bursts. This will allow for mapping of the neutrons' distribution on the considered altitudes for their comparison with the thunderstorm activity maps and for comparison with the results of neutron burst numerical modeling. Previous experiments carried out are discussed, and their comparative analysis with the presented one is given.

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