Galactic and Solar Radiation Exposure to Aircrew during a Solar Cycle

Lewis, Brent J.; Bennett, L. G. I.; Green, A. R.; McCall, M. J.; Ellaschuk, B.; Butler, Anthony; Pierre, M.

doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.rpd.a006091

Cited by 39 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…There have been many studies of cosmic radiation dose rates both in Concorde and subsonic aircraft (1,2,4,18,22,28,32,33,42,(47)(48)(49)(50)(51), all giving similar results. European airlines have been required to monitor and record occupational exposure since May 2000 to comply with the European Directive.…”

Section: Cosmic Radiation Doses Receivedmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…A number of studies have been published giving effective dose rates for subsonic flights, measured both actively and passively (1,2,4,18,28,32,33,42,47,49,50,51).…”

Section: Measurement Of Cosmic Radiation Dosesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A large number of passive and active devices have been used to measure the dose in aircraft and a summary was published by the European Radiation Dosimetry Group in 1996 (13). More recent work (32) indicates that the tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) may be the most appropriate device, although it is not calibrated across the complete energy spectrum.…”

Section: Measurement Of Cosmic Radiation Dosesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A Canadian program is known as PCAIRE and is freely available from www.pcaire.com (32) These computer programs allow airline companies and their employees to comply with the ICRP recommendations to monitor radiation exposure.…”

Section: A Further Program Is the Sievert System (Systeme D'informatimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLDs) respond to X and gamma radiation and to charged particles (electrons, protons, muons, etc), and are used in the 'film badges' worn by radiation workers in the nuclear and medical industries . The neutron component can be measured using a polyallyldiglycol carbonate dosimeter (PADC, or CR39) which responds to neutron energies above 100 keV.A number of studies have been published giving effective dose rates for subsonic flights, measured both actively and passively (1,2,4,18,28,32,33,42,47,49,50,51).Effective dose is not directly measurable, the operational quantity of interest being ambient dose equivalent. In the same way that operational quantity personal dose equivalent is used to estimate effective dose for radiation workers, so operational quantity ambient dose equivalent can be a good estimator of effective dose and equivalent dose received from cosmic radiation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cosmic radiation in commercial aviation

Bagshaw

2008

Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease

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This paper reviews the current knowledge of cosmic radiation and its applicability to commercial aviation. Galactic cosmic radiation emanates from outside the solar system, while occasionally a disturbance in the sun's atmosphere leads to a surge in radiation particles. Protection is provided by the sun's magnetic field, the earth's magnetic field, and the earth's atmosphere. Dose rates are dependent on the altitude, the geomagnetic latitude and the solar cycle. For occupational exposure to ionising radiation, which includes aircrew, the International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends maximum mean body effective dose limits of 20 mSv per year (averaged over 5 years, with a maximum in any one year of 50 mSv). Radiation doses can be measured during flight or may be calculated using a computermodelling program such as CARI, EPCARD, SIEVERT or PCAIRE. Mean ambient equivalent dose rates are in the region of 4 -5 µSv per hour for long-haul pilots and 1 -3 µSv per hour for short-haul, giving an annual mean effective exposure of the order 2 -3 mSv for long-haul and 1 -2 mSv for short-haul pilots. Epidemiological studies of flight crew have not shown any increase in cancer mortality or cancer incidence that could be directly attributable to ionising radiation exposure. Whilst it is accepted that there is no level of radiation exposure below which effects do not occur, all the current evidence indicates that the probability of airline crew or passengers suffering any abnormality or disease as a result of exposure to cosmic radiation is very low.Keywords: Galactic cosmic radiation, solar flare, coronal mass ejection, ground level enhancement (GLE), International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), dose rate effectiveness (DREF), linear energy transfer (LET), relative biological effectiveness (RBE), quality factor (QF), chromosome aberrations, CARI, EPCARD, SIEVERT, PCAIRE. IntroductionThe planet earth is continuously bathed in high-energy ionising radiation known as galactic cosmic radiation (GCR), emanating from outside the solar system, and sporadically exposed to bursts of energetic particles from the sun referred to as solar particle events (SPEs).The main source of GCR is believed to be supernovae (exploding stars), while occasionally a disturbance in the sun's atmosphere (solar flare or coronal mass ejection) leads to a surge of radiation particles with sufficient energy to penetrate the earth's magnetic field and enter the atmosphere. Ionising RadiationIonising radiation refers to subatomic particles that, on interacting with an atom, can directly or indirectly cause the atom to lose an electron or even break apart its nucleus. It is when these events occur in body tissue that health effects may result if the human body's self-repair mechanism fails.Ionising radiation is a normal part of the environment. It is emitted in all normal human tissue cells, and emanates from the ground and some building materials. It is used as a medical diagnostic and treatment tool, and is received from GCR. 2Io...

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Section: Cosmic Radiation Doses Receivedmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…A number of studies have been published giving effective dose rates for subsonic flights, measured both actively and passively (1,2,4,18,28,32,33,42,47,49,50,51).…”

Section: Measurement Of Cosmic Radiation Dosesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Measurement Of Cosmic Radiation Dosesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Further Program Is the Sievert System (Systeme D'informatimentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cosmic radiation in commercial aviation

Bagshaw

2008

Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease

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Short‐term variation of cosmic radiation measured by aircraft under constant flight conditions

et al. 2015

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The temporal variations in cosmic radiation on aircraft under constant flight conditions were measured by a Liulin detector. Rather than a commercial long-distance aircraft, we used a military reconnaissance aircraft performing a circular flight at a constant altitude over the Korean Peninsula. At 9144 m (30,000 ft), the mean and standard deviation of the radiation dose rate (among 35 measurements) was 2.3 and 0.17 μSv/h, respectively. The experiment yielded two observational results. First, the dose rate changed over a flight time of 5-7 h; second, no strong correlation was revealed between the cosmic rays observed from the ground-based neutron monitor and the radiation doses at aircraft altitude. These observations can provide insight into the short-term variation of cosmic radiation at aviation altitudes. When discarding various negligible factors, it is postulated that the changes in the geomagnetic field and the air density still could affect the variation of cosmic radiation at aircraft altitude. However, various factors are less known about the dependence on the cosmic radiation. Therefore, investigations of possible factors are also warranted at the monitoring points of space weather.

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Space Weather Radiation Effects on High‐Altitude/‐Latitude Aircraft

Mertens

Tobiska

2021

Space Weather Effects and Applications

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Galactic and Solar Radiation Exposure to Aircrew during a Solar Cycle

Cited by 39 publications

References 43 publications

Cosmic radiation in commercial aviation

Cosmic radiation in commercial aviation

Short‐term variation of cosmic radiation measured by aircraft under constant flight conditions

Space Weather Radiation Effects on High‐Altitude/‐Latitude Aircraft

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