Measurement of dose equivalent distribution on-board commercial jet aircraft

Abstract

The annual effective doses of aircrew members often exceed the limit of 1 mSv for the public due to the increased level of cosmic radiation at the flight altitudes, and thus, it is recommended to monitor them [International Commission on Radiation Protection. 1990 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. ICRP Publication 60. Ann. ICRP 21: (1-3), (1991)]. According to the Monte Carlo simulations [Battistoni, G., Ferrari, A., Pelliccioni, M. and Villari, R. Evaluation of the doses to aircrew members taking into consideration the aircraft structures. Adv. Space Res. 36: , 1645-1652 (2005) and Ferrari, A., Pelliccioni, M. and Villari, R. Evaluation of the influence of aircraft shielding on the aircrew exposure through an aircraft mathematical model. Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 108: (2), 91-105 (2004)], the ambient dose equivalent rate Ḣ*(10) depends on the location in the aircraft. The aim of this article is to experimentally evaluate Ḣ*(10) on-board selected types of aircraft. The authors found that Ḣ*(10) values are higher in the front and the back of the cabin and lesser in the middle of the cabin. Moreover, total dosimetry characteristics obtained in this way are in a reasonable agreement with other data, in particular with the above-mentioned simulations.

CONCORD: comparison of cosmic radiation detectors in the radiation field at aviation altitudes

“…Further information on the Liulin instrument and its calibration for different purposes, e.g. determination of H*(10) using spectral analysis, can be found in Uchihori et al 2002;Dachev et al 2007;Ploc et al 2011;Kubancak et al 2013;Ploc et al 2013).…”

RaD‐X: Complementary measurements of dose rates at aviation altitudes

“…The dose rates within the target areas with an average R C = 4.1 GV were measured with two Liulin 6G detectors and a HAWK 2 (TEPC). Liulin 6G semiconductor silicon detectors measure the energy deposition of charged particles in the charge sensitive region of a Hamamatsu S2744‐08 positive intrinsic negative photodiode (PIN‐diode) with a thickness of approximately 300 µm and a mass of 0.16597 g. For details see, e.g., Meier et al [] and Kubancak et al []. The sensitive volume of the HAWK 2 (TEPC) is a 4.95 inches diameter plastic sphere that is filled with a tissue equivalent gas consisting of 99.7% propane at a pressure of about 7 torr [ Conroy , ], simulating a cell size of 2 µm.…”

“…The equipment used during the measuring flights consisted of a Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (HAWK 2) as well as two silicon semiconductor detectors (Liulin 6G). A detailed description of the instruments and their calibration can be found, e.g., in Meier et al [, ], Dachev et al [], Uchihori et al [], and Kubancak et al []. All instruments were commercially available and had been tested for safety according to Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA)/DO‐160E [ Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics , ] by an independent accredited notified body that certified compliance with Cat.…”

Overview of the Liulin type instruments for space radiation measurement and their scientific results

“…SEPs are relatively rare and occur most often during the solar maximum phase of the approximately 11-year solar cycle. In years of maximum solar activity up to ten flares can occur, during the years of minimum solar activity only one event may be observed on average (Lantos, 1993).…”

“…), while the events above 1 MeV represent the high LET components (protons, neutrons and ions heavier than H). This idea was further developed and allowed calculation of the ambient dose equivalent H * (10) at aircraft altitudes from the deposited energy spectrum in the silicon detector (Spurny, 2005;Green et al, 2005;Ploc et al, 2011;Kubančák et al, 2014).…”