A Method for Calculating Atmospheric Radiation Produced by Relativistic Electron Precipitation
Abstract Radiation safety in the Earth's atmosphere is of particular importance to our living environment, especially at aviation altitudes. Aviation radiation has been long known to originate primarily from the galactic and solar system: galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic protons. Recent...
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| Format: | Article |
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Wiley
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Space Weather |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021SW002735 |
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| author | Wei Xu Robert A. Marshall W. Kent Tobiska |
| author_facet | Wei Xu Robert A. Marshall W. Kent Tobiska |
| author_sort | Wei Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Radiation safety in the Earth's atmosphere is of particular importance to our living environment, especially at aviation altitudes. Aviation radiation has been long known to originate primarily from the galactic and solar system: galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic protons. Recent flight measurements by the Automated Radiation Measurements for Aerospace Safety experiment have uncovered another potential source for aviation radiation: Relativistic Electron Precipitation (REP) from the Van Allen radiation belts. REP can induce radiation at aviation altitudes through bremsstrahlung X‐ray production, which carries radiation down to the stratosphere and even the troposphere. In this study, using a suite of physics‐based Monte Carlo models, we characterize the effective radiation dose produced at altitudes between ground and low‐Earth‐orbit by relativistic precipitation electrons with energies between 100 keV and 10 MeV. We produce a lookup table of atmospheric radiation production that calculates the expected radiation dose for a given precipitation flux, spectrum, and pitch angle distribution. This lookup table provides results that are consistent with X‐ray measurements during radiation belt precipitation by balloon‐borne instruments in the stratosphere, and can be directly used to convert space‐borne measurements of precipitation fluxes into aviation radiation. This study represents our first attempt toward better understanding of REP's role in the atmospheric high‐altitude radiation environment. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c17527965e20403b98d4af180129d4fa |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1542-7390 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Space Weather |
| spelling | doaj-art-c17527965e20403b98d4af180129d4fa2025-01-14T16:27:22ZengWileySpace Weather1542-73902021-12-011912n/an/a10.1029/2021SW002735A Method for Calculating Atmospheric Radiation Produced by Relativistic Electron PrecipitationWei Xu0Robert A. Marshall1W. Kent Tobiska2Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO USADepartment of Aerospace Engineering Sciences University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO USASpace Environment Technologies Pacific Palisades CA USAAbstract Radiation safety in the Earth's atmosphere is of particular importance to our living environment, especially at aviation altitudes. Aviation radiation has been long known to originate primarily from the galactic and solar system: galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic protons. Recent flight measurements by the Automated Radiation Measurements for Aerospace Safety experiment have uncovered another potential source for aviation radiation: Relativistic Electron Precipitation (REP) from the Van Allen radiation belts. REP can induce radiation at aviation altitudes through bremsstrahlung X‐ray production, which carries radiation down to the stratosphere and even the troposphere. In this study, using a suite of physics‐based Monte Carlo models, we characterize the effective radiation dose produced at altitudes between ground and low‐Earth‐orbit by relativistic precipitation electrons with energies between 100 keV and 10 MeV. We produce a lookup table of atmospheric radiation production that calculates the expected radiation dose for a given precipitation flux, spectrum, and pitch angle distribution. This lookup table provides results that are consistent with X‐ray measurements during radiation belt precipitation by balloon‐borne instruments in the stratosphere, and can be directly used to convert space‐borne measurements of precipitation fluxes into aviation radiation. This study represents our first attempt toward better understanding of REP's role in the atmospheric high‐altitude radiation environment.https://doi.org/10.1029/2021SW002735atmospheric radiationaviation radiationbremsstrahlung X‐raysradiation beltsrelativistic electron precipitation |
| spellingShingle | Wei Xu Robert A. Marshall W. Kent Tobiska A Method for Calculating Atmospheric Radiation Produced by Relativistic Electron Precipitation Space Weather atmospheric radiation aviation radiation bremsstrahlung X‐rays radiation belts relativistic electron precipitation |
| title | A Method for Calculating Atmospheric Radiation Produced by Relativistic Electron Precipitation |
| title_full | A Method for Calculating Atmospheric Radiation Produced by Relativistic Electron Precipitation |
| title_fullStr | A Method for Calculating Atmospheric Radiation Produced by Relativistic Electron Precipitation |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Method for Calculating Atmospheric Radiation Produced by Relativistic Electron Precipitation |
| title_short | A Method for Calculating Atmospheric Radiation Produced by Relativistic Electron Precipitation |
| title_sort | method for calculating atmospheric radiation produced by relativistic electron precipitation |
| topic | atmospheric radiation aviation radiation bremsstrahlung X‐rays radiation belts relativistic electron precipitation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021SW002735 |
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