Cari-7A: Development and validation

Abstract

Aircrew members can be exposed to higher annual doses of natural ionizing radiation than members of the general population in most parts of the world. The principal ionizing radiation to which they are exposed is galactic cosmic radiation (GCR). Among the particles present in the primary spectrum are heavy ions: relativistic nuclei of lithium and heavier elements. These ions have very high radiation weighting factors and can contribute significantly to the effective dose at altitudes above the Pfotzer maximum. This report describes the latest version of the US Federal Aviation Administration's GCR flight dose calculation software, CARI-7A. Unlike its predecessor, CARI-6, CARI-7A directly includes heavy ion transport, using a database of atmospheric particle spectra generated by incident GCR ions pre-calculated with MCNPX 2.7.0. to enable calculations to the edge of space. Results are compared with measurements aboard commercial passenger aircraft, high altitude research aircraft and similar calculations by others.