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

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 μ1/4Sv hg'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.