PROGRESS TOWARDS AVIATION RADIATION MONITORING
2021
The aerospace environment has several sources of ionizing radiation. Exposure to this radiation is one of the natural hazards faced by aircrew, high-altitude pilots, frequent flyers, and
commercial space travelers. Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and solar energetic particles (SEPs)
almost always are the most important sources of ionizing radiation, particularly when traveling
at or above commercial aviation altitudes (8 km or 26,000 ft). GCRs originate from outside
the solar system and consist mostly of energetic protons with some alpha particles and a few
heavier ions such as iron. SEPs originate on the Sun and are similar in composition to GCRs,
being predominantly protons but with relatively fewer heavier ions. Recent measurements also
suggest that secondary bremsstrahlung gamma-rays from precipitating Van Allen Belt relativistic electrons may also contribute dose at aviation altitudes. Regardless of their sources,
charged particles transit Earth’s magnetosphere and interact with its atmosphere depending
upon cutoff rigidity where the Earth’s magnetic field acts like a high-pass filter. During normal
geomagnetic conditions, cutoff rigidity varies approximately inversely with geographic latitude;
only particles with relatively high rigidity can make it to the atmosphere at latitudes near the
equator, while even the lowest rigidity particles can enter the atmosphere at the geomagnetic
poles. As a result, the largest primary radiation fluxes enter at high latitudes, with maxima surrounding the geomagnetic poles. We describe the ISWAT workshop results reviewing
the state-of-art for aviation radiation monitoring and report the first results of the ARMAS
Dual Monitor project demonstrating 24/7 monitoring as well as improved understanding of the
particles and processes that create the aviation radiation environment.
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