Computation of radiation environment during ground level enhancements 65, 69 and 70 at equatorial region and flight altitudes

The radiation environment in the troposphere of the Earth is governed by cosmic rays of galactic and solar origin. During major solar energetic particles events the radiation environment changes dramatically. As a results the risk of biological effects due to exposure to ionizing radiation of aircrew increases. Here we present a numerical model for computation of absorbed dose in air due to cosmic rays of galactic and solar origin. It is applied for computation of radiation environment at flight altitude in the equatorial region during several major ground level enhancements, namely GLE65 on 28 October 2003, GLE69 on 20 January 2005 and GLE70 on 13 December 2006. The model is based on a full Monte Carlo simulation of cosmic ray induced atmospheric cascade. The cascade simulation is carried out with CORSIKA 6.990 code with corresponding hadron generators FLUKA 2011 and QGSJET II. The contribution of different cascade components, namely electromagnetic, hadron and muon is explicitly obtained. The spectra of arriving solar energetic particles are calculated from ground level measurements with neutron monitors and satellite data from GOES. The obtained results are discussed.     

Genetic and physiological damage induced by cosmic radiation on dry plant seeds during space flight

Total evaluation of cosmic radiation effect with or without discrimination of individualized HZE-ion effects in dry seeds flown for 10 days on STS-9, yielded significant evidence for radiation damage in space. They depend on the biological criteria tested (seed germination, morphogenesis, embryo lethality, mutation rate) which stand for early, physiological and late genetic effects. They are also related to the radiation shielding environment in the space shuttle. Proceeding from these results three direct questions can be posed for present (LDEF-1) and future (ERA-1, D-2) experiments in space: What is the influence of cosmic radiation on cytogenetic repair and ontogenetic restitution processes? Does microgravity disorder the morphogenesis (i.e. growth and cell differentiation)? Is there an interaction between the effects of cosmic radiation and microgravity in eukaryotic plant systems?     

宇宙磁单极子的曲率辐射

本文对磁单极子在宇宙空间中所产生的曲率辐射进行了仔细研究.表明, 宇宙等离子体对这种辐射起着抑制作用.      

Solar cosmic rays as a specific source of radiation risk during piloted space flight.

Solar cosmic rays present one of several radiation sources that are unique to space flight. Under ground conditions the exposure to individuals has a controlled form and radiation risk occurs as stochastic radiobiological effects. Existence of solar cosmic rays in space leads to a stochastic mode of radiation environment as a result of which any radiobiological consequences of exposure to solar cosmic rays during the flight will be probabilistic values. In this case, the hazard of deterministic effects should also be expressed in radiation risk values. The main deterministic effect under space conditions is radiation sickness. The best dosimetric functional for its analysis is the blood forming organs dose equivalent but not an effective dose. In addition, the repair processes in red bone marrow affect strongly on the manifestation of this pathology and they must be taken into account for radiation risk assessment. A method for taking into account the mentioned above peculiarities for the solar cosmic rays radiation risk assessment during the interplanetary flights is given in the report. It is shown that radiation risk of deterministic effects defined, as the death probability caused by radiation sickness due to acute solar cosmic rays exposure, can be comparable to risk of stochastic effects. Its value decreases strongly because of the fractional mode of exposure during the orbital movement of the spacecraft. On the contrary, during the interplanetary flight, radiation risk of deterministic effects increases significantly because of the residual component of the blood forming organs dose from previous solar proton events. The noted quality of radiation responses must be taken into account for estimating radiation hazard in space.     

On the parameterization of the biological effect in a mixed radiation field.

The exposure of astronauts and electronics to the cosmic radiation especially to the particle component pose a major risk to all space flights. Up to now it is not possible to quantify this risk within acceptable limits of accuracy. This uncertainty is not only caused by difficulties in the more or less exact prediction of the incidence of the cosmic radiation but depends also on the problem of the quantification of the radiation field and the correlation of the biological effect. Usually the biological action of a mixed radiation field is estimated as product of the measured dose with an average quality factor, the relative biological efficiency. Because of the large variation in energy and atomic number of the cosmic particles, average values of the quality factor are not precise for risk estimation. A more appropriate way to treat the biological effects of mixed radiation is the concept of particle fluence and action cross section.     

宇宙磁单极子的椭圆辐射

本文研究了磁单极子在宇宙空间作椭圆轨道运动的辐射问题，得到了这种辐射的谱功率公式，该公式对探测和鉴别宇宙磁单极子具有重要意义。     

Radiation factors in space and a system for their monitoring.

The radiation environment is of special concern when the spaceship flies in deep space. The annual fluence of the galactic cosmic rays is approximately 10(8) cm-2 and the absorbed dose of the solar cosmic rays can reach 10 Gy per event behind the shielding thickness of 3-5 g cm-2 Al. For the radiation environment monitoring it is planned to place a measuring complex on the space probes "Mars" and "Spectr" flying outside the magnetosphere. This complex is to measure: cosmic rays composition, particle flux, dose equivalent, energy and LET spectra, solar X-rays spectrum. On line data transmission by the space probes permits to obtain the radiation environment data in space.     

Relationships between neutron fluxes and rain flows

Registration of secondary cosmic ray neutrons is a convenient tool for investigation of primary cosmic ray variations and meteorological effects as well. At present a large network of neutron monitors exists, providing the studies of cosmic ray variations related to the interplanetary conditions and geomagnetic activity. At the same time cosmic ray variations may be caused by some atmospheric processes. In this connection, using the data from standard and lead-free neutron monitors, and gamma and muon detectors, we studied relations between rain flows and neutron, gamma and ionization component behavior. To explain observable results the calculations of neutron and gamma absorption and albedo neutron spectra have been performed on the basis of universal software package FLUKA-2006. In this study we used hourly data on the neutron flux, corrected for barometric pressure and data from local meteorological stations. It was shown that secondary neutron radiation, recorded by lead-free NM, and gamma radiation as well are strongly effected by meteorological factors. The neutron component behavior depends on the moisture content in the soil, and above its surface.     

The atmospheric cosmic- and solar energetic particle radiation environment at aircraft altitudes

Galactic cosmic rays interact with the solar wind, the earth's magnetic field and its atmosphere to produce hadron, lepton and photon fields at aircraft altitudes. In addition to cosmic rays, energetic particles generated by solar activity bombard the earth from time to time. These particles, while less energetic than cosmic rays, also produce radiation fields at aircraft altitudes which have qualitatively the same properties as atmospheric cosmic rays. We have used a code based on transport theory to calculate atmospheric cosmic-ray quantities and compared them with experimental data. Agreement with these data is seen to be good. We have then used this code to calculate equivalent doses to aircraft crews. We have also used the code to calculate radiation doses from several large solar energetic particle events which took place in 1989, including the very large event that occurred on September 29^th and 30^th of that year. The spectra incident on the atmosphere were determined assuming diffusive shock theory.     

Radiation environment due to galactic and solar cosmic rays during manned mission to Mars in the periods between maximum and minimum solar activity cycles.

A possibility of a manned mission to Mars without exceeding the current radiation standards is very doubtful during the periods of minimum solar activity since the dose equivalent due to galactic cosmic rays exceeds currently recommended standards even inside a radiation shelter with an equivalent of 30 g cm-2 aluminum. The radiation situation at the time of maximum solar activity is determined by the occurrence of major solar proton events which are exceedingly difficult to forecast. This paper discusses the radiation environment during a manned mission to Mars in the years between minimum and maximum solar activity when the galactic cosmic ray intensity is considerably reduced, but the solar flare activity has not yet maximized.     

The local time dependence of the anisotropic solar cosmic ray flux.

The distribution of the solar cosmic radiation flux over the earth is not uniform, but the result of complex phenomena involving the interplanetary magnetic field, the geomagnetic field and latitude and longitude of locations on the earth. The latitude effect relates to the geomagnetic shield; the longitude effect relates to local time. For anisotropic solar cosmic ray events the maximum particle flux is always along the interplanetary magnetic field direction, sometimes called the Archimedean spiral path from the sun to the earth. During anisotropic solar cosmic ray event, the locations on the earth viewing "sunward" into the interplanetary magnetic field direction will observe the largest flux (when adjustments are made for the magnetic latitude effect). To relate this phenomena to aircraft routes, for anisotropic solar cosmic ray events that occur during "normal quiescent" conditions, the maximum solar cosmic ray flux (and corresponding solar particle radiation dose) will be observed in the dawn quadrant, ideally at about 06 hours local time.     

Advanced biostack: experiment 1 ES 027 on Spacelab-1.

The radiobiological properties of the heavy ions of cosmic radiation were investigated on Spacelab 1 by use of biostacks, monolayers of biological test organisms sandwiched between thin foils of different types of nuclear track detectors. Biostacks were exposed to cosmic radiation at several locations with different shielding environments in the module and on the pallet. Evaluations of the physical and biological components of the experiment to date indicate that in general they survived the spaceflight in good condition. Dosimetric data are presented for the different shielding environments.     

Cosmic ray exposure factors for Shuttle altitudes derived from calculated cut-off rigidities.

The allowed cosmic radiation flux accessible to an earth-orbiting spacecraft is a complex function of the satellite position and the geomagnetic cutoff characteristics at each zenith and azimuth angle at each position. We have determined cosmic ray exposure factors for the galactic cosmic ray spectrum for typical shuttle altitudes and inclinations up to 50 degrees. We have utilized d world grid of trajectory-derived cutoff rigidity calculations at 400 km altitude to determine geomagnetic transmission functions that permit a simple and direct calculation of the allowed cosmic ray spectrum to a 400 km satellite orbit. If the interplanetary cosmic ray spectrum is multiplied by the orbit-averaged geomagnetic transmission function the result is the allowed cosmic ray spectrum at the spacecraft.     

Radiation hazards on space missions outside the magnetosphere.

Future space missions outside the magnetosphere will subject astronauts to a hostile and unfamiliar radiation environment. An annual dose equivalent to the blood-forming organs (BFOs) of approximately 0.5 Sv is expected, mostly from heavy ions in the galactic cosmic radiation. On long-duration missions, an anomalously-large solar energetic particle event may occur. Such an event can expose astronauts to up to approximately 25 Gy (skin dose) and up to approximately 2 Sv (BFO dose) with no shielding. The anticipated radiation exposure may necessitate spacecraft design concessions and some restriction of mission activities. In this paper we discuss our model calculations of radiation doses in several exo-magnetospheric environments. Specific radiation shielding strategies are discussed. A new calculation of aluminum equivalents of potential spacecraft shielding materials demonstrates the importance of low-atomic-mass species for protection from galactic cosmic radiation.     

Radiation risk during long-term spaceflight.

Cosmonauts' exposure to cosmic rays during long-term spaceflight can cause unfavorable effects in health and risk for the crew members' lives. All unfavorable effects induced by exposure should be taken into consideration for the risk estimation. They should include both the acute deterministic effects and delayed effects called stochastic. On the ground the limitation of unfavorable consequences of acute exposure is achieved by means of establishing dose limits. But in space applications this approach can't be acceptable. Establishing a fixed dose limit is adequate to introducing indefinite reserve coefficient and therefore ineffective usage of spacecraft resource. The method of radiation risk calculation caused by acute and delayed effects of cosmonauts' exposure is discussed and substantiated in the report. Peculiarities of the impact of permanent radiation sources (galactic cosmic rays and trapped radiation) and the variable one (solar cosmic rays) are taken into consideration.     

The atmospheric radiation response to solar-particle-events.

High-energy solar particles, produced in association with solar flares and coronal mass ejections, occasionally bombard the earth's atmosphere. resulting in radiation intensities additional to the background cosmic radiation. Access of these particles to the earth's vicinity during times of geomagnetic disturbances are not adequately described by using static geomagnetic field models. These solar fluxes are also often distributed non uniformly in space, so that fluxes measured by satellites obtained at great distances from the earth and which sample large volumes of space around the earth cannot be used to predict fluxes locally at the earth's surface. We present here a method which uses the ground-level neutron monitor counting rates as adjoint sources of the flux in the atmosphere immediately above them to obtain solar-particle effective dose rates as a function of position over the earth's surface. We have applied this approach to the large September 29-30, 1989 ground-level event (designated GLE 42) to obtain the magnitude and distribution of the solar-particle effective dose rate from an atypically large event. The results of these calculations clearly show the effect of the softer particle spectra associated with solar particle events, as compared with galactic cosmic rays, results in a greater sensitivity to the geomagnetic field, and, unlike cosmic rays, the near-absence of a "knee" near 60 degrees geomagnetic latitude.     

Neutron spectra in the atmosphere from interactions of primary cosmic rays

Spectra of neutrons from interactions of primary cosmic rays in the earth's atmosphere are calculated with the Monte Carlo model fluka for various depths down to sea level. We discuss the environmental models describing the primary cosmic ray spectrum and details of the calculations. Neutron energy spectra are presented for different depths in the atmosphere and for different geographical locations. By comparing results of calculations to measurements on neutron spectra it is shown that fluka may serve as an important tool for the estimation of the radiation environment in the atmosphere.     

Hze-particles measured during IML-1 mission

Three stacks of CR-39 plastic nuclear track detectors were exposed to cosmic radiation during IML-1 mission. They were mounted with their axes parallel to the shuttle's axes to allow measurements of LET-spectra for different impinging directions. First results of this experiment are reported.     

A parametric study of space radiation exposures to critical body organs for low earth orbit missions.

The geomagnetically-trapped and galactic cosmic radiation environments are two of the major sources of naturally-occurring space radiation exposure to astronauts in low earth orbit. The exposure is dependent primarily on altitude, spacecraft shielding, crew stay-times, and solar cycle effects for a 28.5 deg orbital inclination. Based on Space Shuttle experience, the calculated results of a parametric study are presented for several mission scenarios using a computerized anatomical man model and are compared with the NASA crew exposure limits for several critical body organs.     

Cosmic radiation and evolution of life on earth: roles of environment, adaptation and selection.

The role of ionizing radiation in general, and cosmic radiation in particular, in the evolution of organisms on the earth by adaptation and natural selection is considered in a series of questions: (1) Are there times during the evolution of the earth and of life when genetic material could be exposed to heavy ion radiation? (2) Throughout the course of chemical and biological evolution on the earth, what fraction of environmental mutagenesis could be attributable to cosmic and/or solar ionizing radiation? (3) Is ionizing radiation an agent of adaptation or selection, or both? (4) What can the cladistics of the evolution of genetic repair tell us about the global history of genotoxic selection pressures? (5) How much genetic diversity can be attributed to the selection of radiation-damage repair processes?