Impact of the Near-Earth Space Environment on Human Radiation Exposure at Commercial Airline Altitudes

Details Impact of the Near-Earth Space Environment on Human Radiation Exposure at Commercial Airline Altitudes Impact of the Near-Earth Space Environment on Human Radiation Exposure at Commercial Airline Altitudes

Dec 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005agufmsa24a..08m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2005, abstract #SA24A-08

Mathematics

Logic

7938 Impacts On Humans, 7959 Models, 7974 Solar Effects, 7984 Space Radiation Environment

Scientific paper

There is a growing concern for the health and safety of commercial aircrew and passengers due to their exposure to ionizing radiation with high linear energy transfer (LET), particularly at high latitudes. The International Commission of Radiobiological Protection (ICRP), the EPA, and the FAA consider the crews of commercial aircraft as radiation workers. The FAA reports that pregnant crew members may run a risk as high as 1.3 per thousand births of severe illness to their children as a result of background radiation exposure. During solar energetic particle (SEP) events, radiation exposure can exceed annual limits, and the number of serious health effects is expected to be quite high if precautions are not taken. Health concerns for frequent-flyer passengers are similar to the health concerns of the crew. There is a need for a capability to monitor background radiations levels at commercial airline altitudes and to provide analytical input for airline operations decisions for altering flight paths and altitudes for the mitigation and reduction of radiation exposure levels during a SEP event. Efforts are currently underway to develop a global, nowcast (real-time) capability for calculating ionizing radiation exposure at commercial airline altitudes. The state-of-the-art in physics-based transport of high energy galactic cosmic ray and solar cosmic ray particles will be presented. Paramount to reliable real-time transport calculations is an accurate and timely specification of the boundary conditions, such as the incident differential energy flux and geomagnetic cutoff rigidity, using a combination of satellite observations and empirical space radiation environment models. However, empirical models of the near-Earth radiation environment can only advance with continued observations and development of physics-based models of the heliosphere and the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere system. In this paper we also discuss the state-of-the-art in space radiation environment modeling, in relation to atmospheric radiation exposure, and discuss the future needs in modeling and observations.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Impact of the Near-Earth Space Environment on Human Radiation Exposure at Commercial Airline Altitudes does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Impact of the Near-Earth Space Environment on Human Radiation Exposure at Commercial Airline Altitudes, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Impact of the Near-Earth Space Environment on Human Radiation Exposure at Commercial Airline Altitudes will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-752921