Articles | Volume 33, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-33-75-2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-33-75-2015
ANGEO Communicates
 | 
15 Jan 2015
ANGEO Communicates |  | 15 Jan 2015

Radiation dose of aircrews during a solar proton event without ground-level enhancement

R. Kataoka, Y. Nakagawa, and T. Sato

Abstract. A significant enhancement of radiation doses is expected for aircrews during ground-level enhancement (GLE) events, while the possible radiation hazard remains an open question during non-GLE solar energetic particle (SEP) events. Using a new air-shower simulation driven by the proton flux data obtained from GOES satellites, we show the possibility of significant enhancement of the effective dose rate of up to 4.5 μSv h−1 at a conventional flight altitude of 12 km during the largest SEP event that did not cause a GLE. As a result, a new GOES-driven model is proposed to give an estimate of the contribution from the isotropic component of the radiation dose in the stratosphere during non-GLE SEP events.

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Short summary
Using a new air-shower simulation driven by the proton flux data obtained from GOES satellites, we show the possibility of significant enhancement of the effective dose rate of up to 4.5 µSv/hr at a conventional flight altitude of 12 km during the largest solar proton event that did not cause a ground-level enhancement. As a result, a new GOES-driven model is proposed to give an estimate of the contribution from the isotropic component of the radiation dose in the stratosphere.