Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Effects of Space Weather on Aviation
NASA.gov ^ | 10/25/13 | Dr. Tony Phillips

Posted on 10/26/2013 6:59:16 PM PDT by oxcart

The next time you step onto an airplane, consider the following: In any given year, the pilot of your aircraft probably absorbs as much radiation as a worker in a nuclear power plant.

And you are about to follow him wherever he goes.

The FAA classifies pilots as "occupational radiation workers." Flying high above Earth with little atmosphere to protect them, they can absorb significant doses of cosmic rays and solar radiation. During a typical polar flight from Chicago to Beijing, for instance, a pilot is exposed to the equivalent of two chest x-rays. Multiplied over the course of a career, this can cause problems such as increased risk of cancer and possibly cataracts.

Passengers have reason to be concerned, too.

"A 100,000 mile frequent flyer gets about 20 chest x-rays," points out Chris Mertens, a senior research scientist at NASA Langley Research Center. "This is true regardless of the latitude of the flights."

It’s worth noting that even people on the ground absorb some radiation. Cosmic rays and their by-products are so powerful, they can reach all the way down to Earth’s surface, giving a person at sea level the equivalent of one chest x-ray every 10 days or so.

On a plane, however, dose rates increase 10-fold or more. The exposure depends on factors ranging from the altitude and latitude of the flight path (polar routes are irradiated most) to sunspot counts and solar activity (a powerful solar storm can boost radiation levels a hundredfold). To help airline companies safeguard passengers and personnel, NASA is developing an experimental tool to predict exposures in real time. Mertens is the PI of the system, called NAIRAS--short for "Nowcast of Atmosphere Ionizing Radiation for Aviation Safety."

Mertens notes that the number of flights over the poles has skyrocketed in recent years. Airlines prefer polar routes for international travel because they are shorter and have reduced head winds, creating fuel savings of tens of thousands of dollars per flight.

However, Earth's poles are where the radiation problem can be most severe. Our planet's magnetic field funnels cosmic rays and solar energetic particles over the very same latitudes where airlines want to fly. On a typical day when the sun is quiet, dose rates for international flights over the poles are 3 to 5 times higher than domestic flights closer to the equator.

If a flight controller wants to know the situation around the poles right now, NAIRAS can help. It is, essentially, an online global map of radiation dose rates for different flight paths and altitudes. Maps are produced in near real-time by a computer at Langley, which combines cutting-edge physics codes with realtime measurements of solar activity and cosmic rays.

“We are still in an experimental phase,” he says. “The ultimate goal of the NAIRAS effort is to adopt a paradigm similar to terrestrial weather forecasting.”

The value to the airlines is clear. The ability to fly over the poles can save $35,000 to $40,000 per flight in fuel costs alone. On the other hand, altering course to avoid a polar radiation storm can cost as much as $100,000. A forecasting tool like NAIRAS can help the airlines make the right decision.

Of even greater importance to Mertens is the human factor. “Back in 2004, I went to a workshop on space weather and aviation. A pilot from American Airlines stood up to address the audience: ‘Look,’ he said, ‘we are classified as radiation workers, we are the most exposed than any other group, yet we know the least of all the groups.’ That was a turning point for me. I wanted to do something to help pilots better understand what they are flying into.” And so NAIRAS was born.

Mertens and colleagues are about to publish a paper in the journal Space Weather comparing NAIRAS predictions to actual radiation measurements onboard airplanes. “The results are encouraging,” he says, “but we still have work to do.”


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: aviation; flying; radiation; solar
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-28 next last

1 posted on 10/26/2013 6:59:16 PM PDT by oxcart
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv; EveningStar

(((PING)))


2 posted on 10/26/2013 7:00:06 PM PDT by oxcart (Journalism [sic])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: oxcart

So we should stop flying and going outside. I hate these people.


3 posted on 10/26/2013 7:16:49 PM PDT by novascotianative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: oxcart
During a typical polar flight from Chicago to Beijing, for instance, a pilot is exposed to the equivalent of two chest x-rays.

Which pales to insignificance compared to the carton-of-cigarettes equivalent the pilot inhales during the stop in Beijing.

4 posted on 10/26/2013 7:17:45 PM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: oxcart

Whatever.

I’m uh gonna die from hiking and snowboarding at 10,000-15,000 feet.

Gamma sum uh that luvin


5 posted on 10/26/2013 7:23:11 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: novascotianative
So we should stop flying and going outside. I hate these people.

All they did was tell the truth with a few interesting factoids. Milk comes from cow glands and eggs come out of hen butts. Ever really think about where honey comes from?
6 posted on 10/26/2013 7:27:39 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: 04-Bravo; 1FASTGLOCK45; 1stFreedom; 2ndDivisionVet; 2sheds; 60Gunner; 6AL-4V; A.A. Cunningham; ...
Aviation and Aerospace ping

Click here to view: Highlights in the History of Aviation and Aerospace - The Past, The Present, and The Future

Please ping me to aviation and aerospace articles. Thank you.

If you want added to or removed from this ping list, please contact EveningStar or Paleo Conservative.

7 posted on 10/26/2013 7:40:08 PM PDT by EveningStar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: oxcart

Why oh why would a SCIENCE outfit like NASA report radiation exposure in “chest xrays”? Why not Sieverts or milliRems? Then the concerned reader could look up the relative risks.

“Chest Xray” dose depends on the machine, what the tech sets it to, what is ning imaged. It’s not a number like “five”.

Here is a neat calculator. I use 20 minutes for climbup and climbdown.

http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/home/radiation_profile


8 posted on 10/26/2013 7:45:18 PM PDT by DBrow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: novascotianative
So we should stop flying and going outside. I hate these people.

Actually staying inside does little good unless you live in a building with thick concrete roof and walls.

If you decide to move to a cave make sure it is a limestone cave because most other caves will have radioactive material in the walls.

9 posted on 10/26/2013 7:48:34 PM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Pontiac

No radon seepage from limestone?


10 posted on 10/26/2013 7:50:59 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: oxcart

Something not mentioned in the article is the type of radiation you get on a plane.

At altitude you can get very high energy neutrons, mesons, xrays, gammas, cosmic ray secondaries, and the interactions of all these things with the plane.

Not exactly the bremsstrahlung you get from an xray tube.


11 posted on 10/26/2013 7:53:13 PM PDT by DBrow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DBrow

bremsstrahlung sounds like some kind of bizarre German sex act.


12 posted on 10/26/2013 7:54:46 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek

It IS! A particle SLAMS into a dense target and converts its kinetic energy into xray photons! Slam slam slam! In an xray tube it’s electrons pumped up with high voltage. in a plane it could be a proton humping into the aluminum skin.


13 posted on 10/26/2013 7:56:39 PM PDT by DBrow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: DBrow

Fortunately for many airline pilots they will spend several years on the bench at least once in their career on furlough.


14 posted on 10/26/2013 7:56:57 PM PDT by USNBandit (sarcasm engaged at all times)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek

Very rare.

Radon leakage requires that there be Uranium ore in the rock.

Limestone is sedimentary rock laid down in prehistoric oceans consisting of shells of microscopic animals.


15 posted on 10/26/2013 8:34:44 PM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: DBrow

” in a plane it could be a proton humping into the aluminum skin.”

Does the aluminum get pregnant?


16 posted on 10/26/2013 8:36:22 PM PDT by dalereed
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek

“Ever really think about where honey comes from? “

I heard it wss bee barf!


17 posted on 10/26/2013 8:40:01 PM PDT by dalereed
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: oxcart
The Obama administration will soon issue a new diktat for flying.


18 posted on 10/26/2013 8:57:14 PM PDT by VeniVidiVici (Play the 'Knockout Game' with someone owning a 9mm and you get what you deserve)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: oxcart

The article has convinced me. I’m going to live at the bottom of an old ICBM silo and never see the sun again.

Sheesh.


19 posted on 10/26/2013 8:58:58 PM PDT by hattend (Firearms and ammunition...the only growing industries under the Obama regime.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: oxcart

My original dentist once told me that the amount of radiation received by a dental X-ray wasn’t much — equal to the amount I’d get walking around in the Sun for a year. :’) Thanks oxcart.


20 posted on 10/26/2013 9:03:36 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (http://www.freerepublic.com/~mestamachine/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-28 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson