Abstract:The U.S. Government shutdown from 1 to 17 October 2013 significantly affected U.S. and global aviation radiation monitoring. The closure occurred just as a S2 radiation storm was in progress with an average dose rate of 20 μSv h -1. We estimate that during the radiation event period, one-half million passengers were flying in the affected zone and, of this population, four would have received sufficient dose to contract fatal cancer in their lifetimes. The radiation environment can be treated like any other ri… Show more
“…This method has provided a wealth of data related to the aviation radiation environment and has made important contributions to model validations of the radiation field at altitude, especially for human tissue damage. A large number of measurements used for postflight analysis have been made using Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counters (TEPCs) under GCR background conditions and not during major space weather SEP events [ Dyer et al ., ; Beck et al ., ; Kyllönen et al ., ; European Commission Radiation Protection 140 , ; Getley et al ., ; Beck et al ., ; Latocha et al ., ; Meier et al ., ; Beck et al ., ; Dyer et al ., ; Hands and Dyer , ; Getley et al ., ; Gersey et al ., ; Tobiska et al ., , , ]. Some of the measurements have included neutron flux and dose equivalent measurements with solid‐state detectors [ Dyer et al ., ; Hands and Dyer , ; Ploc et al ., ; Lee et al ., ].…”
Section: Radiation Specification At Aircraft Altitudesmentioning
The Automated Radiation Measurements for Aerospace Safety (ARMAS) program has successfully deployed a fleet of six instruments measuring the ambient radiation environment at commercial aircraft altitudes. ARMAS transmits real‐time data to the ground and provides quality, tissue‐relevant ambient dose equivalent rates with 5 min latency for dose rates on 213 flights up to 17.3 km (56,700 ft). We show five cases from different aircraft; the source particles are dominated by galactic cosmic rays but include particle fluxes for minor radiation periods and geomagnetically disturbed conditions. The measurements from 2013 to 2016 do not cover a period of time to quantify galactic cosmic rays' dependence on solar cycle variation and their effect on aviation radiation. However, we report on small radiation “clouds” in specific magnetic latitude regions and note that active geomagnetic, variable space weather conditions may sufficiently modify the magnetospheric magnetic field that can enhance the radiation environment, particularly at high altitudes and middle to high latitudes. When there is no significant space weather, high‐latitude flights produce a dose rate analogous to a chest X‐ray every 12.5 h, every 25 h for midlatitudes, and every 100 h for equatorial latitudes at typical commercial flight altitudes of 37,000 ft (~11 km). The dose rate doubles every 2 km altitude increase, suggesting a radiation event management strategy for pilots or air traffic control; i.e., where event‐driven radiation regions can be identified, they can be treated like volcanic ash clouds to achieve radiation safety goals with slightly lower flight altitudes or more equatorial flight paths.
“…This method has provided a wealth of data related to the aviation radiation environment and has made important contributions to model validations of the radiation field at altitude, especially for human tissue damage. A large number of measurements used for postflight analysis have been made using Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counters (TEPCs) under GCR background conditions and not during major space weather SEP events [ Dyer et al ., ; Beck et al ., ; Kyllönen et al ., ; European Commission Radiation Protection 140 , ; Getley et al ., ; Beck et al ., ; Latocha et al ., ; Meier et al ., ; Beck et al ., ; Dyer et al ., ; Hands and Dyer , ; Getley et al ., ; Gersey et al ., ; Tobiska et al ., , , ]. Some of the measurements have included neutron flux and dose equivalent measurements with solid‐state detectors [ Dyer et al ., ; Hands and Dyer , ; Ploc et al ., ; Lee et al ., ].…”
Section: Radiation Specification At Aircraft Altitudesmentioning
The Automated Radiation Measurements for Aerospace Safety (ARMAS) program has successfully deployed a fleet of six instruments measuring the ambient radiation environment at commercial aircraft altitudes. ARMAS transmits real‐time data to the ground and provides quality, tissue‐relevant ambient dose equivalent rates with 5 min latency for dose rates on 213 flights up to 17.3 km (56,700 ft). We show five cases from different aircraft; the source particles are dominated by galactic cosmic rays but include particle fluxes for minor radiation periods and geomagnetically disturbed conditions. The measurements from 2013 to 2016 do not cover a period of time to quantify galactic cosmic rays' dependence on solar cycle variation and their effect on aviation radiation. However, we report on small radiation “clouds” in specific magnetic latitude regions and note that active geomagnetic, variable space weather conditions may sufficiently modify the magnetospheric magnetic field that can enhance the radiation environment, particularly at high altitudes and middle to high latitudes. When there is no significant space weather, high‐latitude flights produce a dose rate analogous to a chest X‐ray every 12.5 h, every 25 h for midlatitudes, and every 100 h for equatorial latitudes at typical commercial flight altitudes of 37,000 ft (~11 km). The dose rate doubles every 2 km altitude increase, suggesting a radiation event management strategy for pilots or air traffic control; i.e., where event‐driven radiation regions can be identified, they can be treated like volcanic ash clouds to achieve radiation safety goals with slightly lower flight altitudes or more equatorial flight paths.
“…For many years, measurements of radiation dose at aviation altitudes were made using in-situ instruments. One such type of instrument, the tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) has been used extensively under GCR background conditions (e.g., Beck et al, 1999;Dyer et al, 1990;Getley et al, 2005;Meier et al, 2009;Tobiska et al, 2014Tobiska et al, , 2015. The TEPC instrument consists of a gas filled cavity surrounded by a wall a few mm thick, both of which consist of a tissue-like material (TEPC uses materials and gases that are essentially equivalent to human tissue in chemical composition).…”
Exposure to ionizing radiation from galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and solar energetic particles (SEP) at aircraft flight altitudes can have an adverse effect on human health. Although airline crews are classified as radiation workers by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), in most countries, their level of exposure is unquantified and undocumented throughout the duration of their career. As such, there is a need to assess pilot ionizing radiation exposure. The Nowcast of Aerospace Ionizing RAdiation System (NAIRAS), a real‐time, global, physics‐based model is used to assess such exposure. The Automated Radiation Measurements for Aerospace Safety (ARMAS) measurement data set consists of high latitude, high altitude, and long‐duration aircraft flights between 2013 and 2023. Here, we characterize radiation exposure at aviation flight altitudes using the NAIRAS model and compare with 45 flight trajectories from the recent ARMAS flight measurement inventory.
“…Tobiska et al . [] make a valid point regarding the necessity to keep a close eye on space weather, given its well and increasingly better known impacts on many technical components vital for our civilization and—mostly indirectly—on human well‐being. A space weather surveillance and communications system operating independently of short‐term political partisan interests may well be mandatory in order to safeguard humanity against potentially catastrophic consequences of extreme space weather events—and not only the flying public.…”
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confidence: 99%
“…But apart from this controversy about the so‐called LNT postulate (Linear, No‐Threshold relation between dose and effect), which Tobiska et al . [] use as model to foretell cancer mortality, even the established formal framework for radiation protection renders this particular argument of Tobiska et al void. The relevant statement of the International Commission on Radiological Protection commenting on their procedure reads [ Valentin , , p. 13] “(k) The collective effective dose quantity is an instrument for optimisation, for comparing radiological technologies and protection procedures, predominantly in the context of occupational exposure.…”
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