Abstract
Exposure of aircrew to cosmic radiation has been recognized as an occupational health risk for several decades. Based on the recommendations by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), many countries and their aviation authorities, respectively have either stipulated legal radiation protection regulations, e.g., in the European Union or issued corresponding advisory circulars, e.g., in the United States of America. Additional sources of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, e.g., due to weather phenomena have been identified and discussed in the scientific literature in recent years. This article gives an overview of the different generally recognized sources due to weather as well as space weather phenomena that contribute to radiation exposure in the atmosphere and the associated radiation effects that might pose a risk to aviation safety at large, including effects on human health and avionics. Furthermore, potential mitigation measures for several radiation sources and the prerequisites for their use are discussed.
Highlights
The atmosphere of our planet is a prerequisite for aviation and a protective layer to shield life on Earth against radiation of cosmic origin such as ultraviolet or ionizing radiation impinging from outer space
There are scenarios in which the ICNIRP recommendation concerning the exposure to unweighted UV could be exceeded in the cockpit, it should be mentioned that this value is exceeded in a much shorter time period during every outdoor activity in direct sunlight
More than a century has elapsed since the discovery of cosmic radiation in 1912 and several other sources of radiation that affect both the Earth’s atmosphere and aviation, e.g., radiation belts, Solar Particle Events (SPEs), Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGF), have been discovered since
Summary
The atmosphere of our planet is a prerequisite for aviation and a protective layer to shield life on Earth against radiation of cosmic origin such as ultraviolet or ionizing radiation impinging from outer space. Component creates a secondary radiation field, the ionization maximum of which depends on various parameters and was measured for the first time at an altitude of around 15 km under the prevailing conditions [1] This secondary atmospheric radiation field changes in composition and energy distribution with increasing atmospheric depth. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) already recommended treating the exposures of aircrew due to cosmic radiation as occupational radiation exposures in 1990 [3]. This recommendation was adopted by the European Union (EU) in 1996 and implemented in the EU directive 96/29/EURATOM that became effective as legal regulation within the member states of the EU in 2000 [4]. The interested reader will find more detailed information on each of the aspects discussed hereinafter in the corresponding references
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