ISSCREM: International Space Station cosmic radiation exposure model

Abstract

A semi-empirical model is derived from operational data collected aboard the International Space Station (ISS) with the U.S. tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC). The model provides daily and cumulative mission predictions of the operational dose equivalent that space-crew may receive from galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) and trapped radiation (TR) sources as a function of the ISS orbit. The parametric model for GCR exposure correlates the TEPC dose equivalent rate to the cutoff rigidity at ISS altitudes while the TR parametric model relates this quantity to the mean atmospheric density at the crossing of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). The influences of solar activity, flux asymmetry inside the SAA, detector orientation, and position aboard the ISS on the dose equivalent have been examined. The model has been successfully benchmarked against measured data for GCR and TR exposures to within ±10% and ±20%, respectively, over periods of time ranging from a single day to a full mission. In addition, preliminary estimates of the protection quantity of effective dose equivalent have been simulated using the PHITS Monte Carlo transport code. These simulations indicate that the TEPC dose equivalent is a conservative estimate of the effective dose equivalent.