In-situ Measurements of the Cosmic Radiation on the Aircraft Altitude over Korean Peninsula

Abstract:

This study presents the comparison between the measured and modeled cosmic radiation on aircraft altitude over Korean peninsula. We performed the measurement with a radiation spectrometer, Liulin-6K on board a Republic of Korea (ROK) Air Force aircraft accomplishing the high-altitude (above 9 km) flight over Korea, and the modeled data was obtained from the operational modeling program, CARI-6M developed by FAA. A number of measurements for the flight mission at high-altitude have been executed to evaluate the exposed dose of cosmic radiation. Both the measured and the calculated data show that the exposed radiation dose enhances dramatically as the altitude increases. The results reveal that the exposed dose rate of aircrews at high-altitude flight is 2-3 orders of magnitude (1-2 mSv/hour) higher than the exposure rate at sea level. It is inferred that the annual total dose of radiation for the aircrews at high-altitude could be higher than the annually public limit (1 mSv) recommended by ICRP. Finally, since neutrons are the dominant components reflecting among total cosmic radiation above 9 km, we try to analyze the relationship between the neutron count from the neutron monitor on the ground and the effective dose from the on board spectrometer. Based on these results, it is suggested that the annual criterion and the proper managing procedure of exposed dose for the flight aircrews of ROK Air Force should be regulated.