Cosmic radiation and aircrew exposure (Editorial)

Abstract

The radiation field at flight altitudes is generated by the interaction of the primary cosmic radiation from space with atoms of the atmosphere. The cosmic particle flux is significantly higher on board aircraft than at the ground level and its intensity depends on latitude, altitude, solar activity and solar eruptions. Owing to the complexity of the field of secondary cosmic radiation—in fact this field consists of a variety of different particles including neutrons, protons, electrons, positrons, photons, positive and negative muons, etc., with kinetic energies exceeding the GeV range—there is no dosemeter system available so far that is able to cover the dose contributions of these particles separately.