On the Doorstep of Global Aviation Radiation Environment Operational Monitoring through Agency and Industry Partnerships

Radiation hazards at commercial aviation altitudes have been known for decades including those from galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), solar energetic particles (SEPs), and more recently radiation belt particle precipitation (RBPP). The complex radiation field that derives from these primary particle sources creates safety concerns for aviation. Because of this safety hazard, a broad community has been working to i)define the requirements for real-time monitoring to protect the health and safety of crew and passengers; ii)define the scope and requirements for a real-time reporting system that conveys situational awareness of the radiation environment to orbital, suborbital, and commercial aviation users; and iii)develop or improve models, including the use of data assimilation, for the real-time assessment of radiation levels at commercial aviation flight altitudes. We describe the industry, agency, and academia efforts that exist to define requirements for real-time monitoring systems, that are making real-time observations of ionizing radiation, and that are performing data assimilation modeling of that environment as part of the NAIRAS, ARMAS, and RADIAN programs.