Increased Crew Radiation Exposure Risk

Welcome to the Human Spaceflight - Increased crew radiation exposure risk service

Overview

The service “Human Spaceflight: Increased crew radiation exposure risk” aims to provide information which can be used to help estimate the expected in-flight radiation dose. Radiation environments considered include solar energetic particles, galactic cosmic rays, and Earth’s radiation belts. This service is made possible by providing forecasts of local area radiation fluxes combined with spacecraft and human phantom shielding geometry models. The service is intended for personnel involved in monitoring the expected radiation environment during crewed space missions.

This service is implemented through a combination of products, tools and alerts which can be found through the sections below along with expert support provided by the teams constituting the ESA Space Weather Service Network. Should you require further guidance in the use of this service, or have specific questions about any aspects of the service presented here, don’t hesitate to contact the Helpdesk.

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Highlights

Announcements

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Products and Alerts

Products

Solar Activity: (Near-) Real-time Measurements
10.7cm Solar Radio Flux (F10.7)

No product available in this category yet

Solar Activity: Forecasts
Solar Flares
CMEs
Coronal Holes
Solar Disc Magnetic Fields
International Sunspot number
10.7cm Solar Radio Flux (F10.7)
Solar EUV Index (S10.7)

No product available in this category yet

Solar EUV Index (E10.7)

No product available in this category yet

Solar FUV Index (M10.7)

No product available in this category yet

Solar X-ray & UV Index (Y10.7)

No product available in this category yet

Ionospheric Index (IG12)
EUV Images of Sun
White Light Solar Imaging
Soft X-ray Images of the Sun

No product available in this category yet

Solar EUV Images Outside of Sun-Earth Line

No product available in this category yet

Solar Coronagraphic Images Outside of Sun-Earth Line

No product available in this category yet

White-light wide-angle Coronagraph Images

No product available in this category yet

Solar X-ray Flux

No product available in this category yet

Solar EUV Integrated Flux

No product available in this category yet

Solar UV Flux

No product available in this category yet

Interplanetary Medium at L1: Forecasts
High Energy >10 MeV Protons
High Energy >10 MeV/nuc Ions

No product available in this category yet

1-10 MeV Protons

No product available in this category yet

1-10 MeV/nuc Ions

No product available in this category yet

0.03-1 MeV/nuc Ions

No product available in this category yet

2-50 MeV Solar Electrons

No product available in this category yet

30 keV-8 MeV Electrons

No product available in this category yet

Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF)
Solar Wind Bulk Velocity
Solar Wind Bulk Density
Interplanetary Medium Outside L1: Forecasts
Solar Energetic Particle Events
Interplanetary Medium Data
Magnetospheric Environment: (Near-) Real-time Measurements
Plasma Drift Velocity

No product available in this category yet

Magnetospheric Environment: Forecasts
Geomagnetic Storm Condition
Geomagnetic Indices Kp and K
Geomagnetic Index Ap and A
Geomagnetic Index Dst
High Energy >10 MeV Protons
High Energy >10 MeV/nuc Ions

No product available in this category yet

1-10 MeV Protons

No product available in this category yet

1-10 MeV/nuc Ions

No product available in this category yet

0.03-1 MeV/nuc Ions

No product available in this category yet

30 keV-8 MeV Electrons
Thermal and Supra-thermal Electron and Ion Energy Spectra
Thermal Ions Density and Temperature

No product available in this category yet

Thermospheric and Atmospheric Conditions: Forecasts
Local External Magnetic Field on Ground
Spacecraft Effects and Anomalies: (Near-) Real-time Measurements
Spacecraft Radiation Monitors
Spacecraft Effects and Anomalies: Forecasts
Orbital Data of Spacecraft Carrying Space Weather Instruments

Alerts

All Quiet Alert
End-of-quiet Alert

Tools

User Manual

Particle radiation in the form of Solar Energetic Particles and Galactic Cosmic Rays is considered the main hazard for human spaceflight, specifically when considering a potential return trip to the Moon or interplanetary travel in general. Even at Low Earth Orbit (LEO) like the International Space Station, particle radiation poses a risk as energetic particles can penetrate deep into the magnetosphere, in particular in the polar regions. Furthermore, spacecraft passing the Van Allen radiation belts need to take into account the increased radiation levels in these regions. Forecasting the space environment to evaluate the possible health effects of space particle radiation on humans is therefore necessary.

Near-Earth environment forecasts

Forecasts for solar proton events are provided by the COMESEP, HESPERIA and Alert/E products. The COMESEP Alert System delivers fully automated alerts for the risk of an SEP event with protons energies >10 MeV and >60 MeV following the obervation of a M- or X- class flare. HESPERIA REleASE uses near relativistic electron measurements to provide a forecast for 15.8-39.8 MeV and 28.2-50.1 MeV protons with a lead time of up to 90 minutes, while the HESPERIA UMASEP-500 scheme issues a >500 MeV SEP prediction based on a time lag-correlation of solar electromagnetic flux with the particle flux near Earth. Alert/E provides the probability for a solar radiation storm of protons with energies >10 MeV for the next 4 days and is updated twice daily by the forecaster of the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre (MOSWOC). Forecasts for geomagnetic storms in terms of indices are provided by the UAH, IRF, ALert/E and FORIND products.

Solar Activity forecasts and propagation through the heliosphere

Solar Flares forecasts are provided by automatic tools (A-Effort, Flarecast) and human forecasters (ROB/SIDC, UKMO). The CME propagation times are provided by DBEM and Enlil/E. To track CMEs, corotating streams and energetic particles in the heliosphere, the tool PROPTOOL can be used. The SIDC also provides a daily space weather bulletin.

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Interruptions

❗ Warning: Please note that interactive functionalities of the COMESEP interface are currently disabled due to a technical issue. Users subscribed to email alerts will continue to receive alerts. New subscriptions are temporarily not possible. To change threshold settings, unsubscribe or for more information, please contact the helpdesk.

❗Due to current unavailability of the SDO input data the performance of some products is affected.

Latest COMESEP Alerts

Full product
Provided by: BIRA-IASB Space Weather Services

Latest HESPERIA RELeASE ACE/EPAM Alert

Full product
Provided by: Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications & Remote Sensing

SIDC Latest Solar flare forecast

Full product
Provided by: Solar Influences Data analysis Center