Assessment of radiation exposure of aircrew personnel

16.09.2006 - 13.12.2007
Auftragsforschungsprojekt
Increasing mobility and associated air traffic stimulated the growing importance of aircrew exposure to secondary cosmic rays which are created in the Earth's atmosphere and cannot be perceived by the human sense organs. According to radiation quality and exposure duration health effects cannot be excluded entirely. Precise assessment of the complexly mixed radiation environment aboard airliners commonly requires considerable metrological expenditure. For the often employed devices rely on complex electronics, operation aboard will be permitted only after electromagnetic harmlessness has been certified. An experimental technique developed at the Atomic Institute of the Austrian Universities permits assessing absorbed dose and estimating biological effectiveness of all cosmic-ray components by a passive detector of credit card size. The applied lithium fluoride thermoluminescence dosemeters are toxicologically harmless, do not emit electromagnetic radiation and, therefore, do not require certification prior to their use aboard. Functionality is based on the storage of energy from the absorbed radiation and its re-emission as light when the dosemeter is heated. Light intensity determined after exposure aboard is a measure of radiation dose and enables assessing its biological relevance. The described methodology has already been applied successfully during several space missions, in radiation therapy and radiobiology. Aicrew exposure to cosmic radiation shall be determined in a 1-year case study in cooperation with pilots and cabin crew of Tyrolean Airways GmbH. In addition to the legally prescribed assessment of the accumulated dose, dose rates may be averaged over the total flight duration. Based on the recorded air route and altitude profiles, experimental results shall be compared with simulations, using the widespread algorithms CARI and EPCARD. Utilisation of commercial thermoluminescence dosemeter chips of different lithium isotopic concentrations allows determining the dose contribution from the neutron component. Within the case study, also other dosemeter materials based on calcium fluoride shall be tested to investigate applicability of these substances to routine aircrew dosimetry. From preliminary experiments it may be expected that assessment of the biological effectiveness of mixed radiation fields can be achieved already at lower doses.

Personen

Projektleiter_in

Projektmitarbeiter_innen

Institut

Contract/collaboration

  • BM für Wirtschaft und Arbeit

Forschungsschwerpunkte

  • Structure-Property Relationsship: 10%
  • Environmental Monitoring and Climate Adaptation: 50%
  • Modeling and Simulation: 40%

Schlagwörter

DeutschEnglisch
Fliegendes PersonalAircrew personnel
ThermolumineszenzThermoluminescence
HöhenstrahlungCosmic radiation
DosimetrieDosimetry

Externe Partner_innen

  • Tyrolean Airways Tiroler Luftfahrt GmbH

Publikationen