title: Influence of clouds on the cosmic radiation dose rate on aircraft.
abstract: Flight missions were made in Brazilian territory in 2009 and 2011 with the aim of measuring the cosmic radiation dose rate incident on aircraft in the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly and to compare it with Monte Carlo simulations. During one of these flights, small fluctuations were observed in the vicinity of the aircraft with formation of Cumulonimbus clouds. Motivated by these observations, in this work, the authors investigated the relationship between the presence of clouds and the neutron flux and dose rate incident on aircraft using computational simulation. The Monte Carlo simulations were made using the MCNPX and Geant4 codes, considering the incident proton flux at the top of the atmosphere and its propagation and neutron production through several vertically arranged slabs, which were modelled according to the ISO specifications.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Aeronautics Technological Institute, São José dos Campos, Brazil mpazianotto@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maurício T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Pazianotto
authors.affiliation: Applied Physics Department, Institute for Advanced Studies, São José dos Campos, Brazil.
authors.forename: Claudio A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Federico
authors.affiliation: Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics Department, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cortés-Giraldo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics,Aeronautics and Space Institute, São José dos Campos, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos Luiz de A
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.affiliation: Applied Physics Department, Institute for Advanced Studies, São José dos Campos, Brazil.
authors.forename: Odair L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Gonçalez
authors.affiliation: Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics Department, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: José Manuel M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Quesada
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Aeronautics Technological Institute, São José dos Campos, Brazil.
authors.forename: Brett V
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.affiliation: Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics Department, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Palomo
mesh_terms: D000401:Aircraft; D001272:Atmosphere; D001938:Brazil; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003359:Cosmic Radiation; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D009502:Neutrons; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D011522:Protons; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011835:Radiation Protection; D011874:Radiometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D011522:Protons