Institute of Radiation Protection

Quantification of enviromental exposures

Koldewey station on Ny-Alesund
Koldewey station on Ny-Alesund, with some of the spheres of the Neutron spectrometer in the window; the statue represents Roald Amundsen. Foto: R. Vockenroth, AWI.

Measurement of solar particle events on Spitzbergen, Arctic

Air crew members and airline passengers are continuously exposed to cosmic radiation during their flights. Particles ejected by the sun (“Solar Particle Events” – SPEs) during periods of high solar activity contribute to this exposure. In rare cases the dose from a single SPE might even exceed the annual dose limit of 1 mSv above which dose monitoring of air crews is legally required. Because SPEs can be best studied close to the magnetic pols where the shielding of cosmic radiation due to the geomagnetic field is low, we have installed a Bonner sphere spectrometer at the Koldewey station in Ny-Alesund, Spitzbergen. The station belongs to the Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Germany, and is located 79 oN. The project will provide first experimental data on the time-dependent energy spectrum of neutrons produced in the atmosphere after an SPE.

Alfred-Wegener-Institute

Press release (22. May 2007, in German)

Online-Diary for the Arctic expedition (in German)

    The NMDB Neutron Monitor Data Base

    Recently, the data obtained on the Koldewey Station with the Bonner multi-sphere spectrometer system have been included in  the real-time database for high resolution neutron monitor measurements (NMDB).

       Neutron Monitor Database (NMDB)

      References:

      W. Rühm, V. Mares, C. Pioch, E. Weitzenegger, R. Vockenroth, H.G. Paretzke. Measurements of secondary neutrons from cosmic radiation with a Bonner sphere spectrometer at 79oN. Radiat Environ Biophys (2009), 48:125-133

      W. Rühm, V. Mares, C. Pioch, G. Simmer and E. Weitzenegger. Continuous measurement of secondary neutrons from cosmic radiation at mountain altitudes and close to the North Pole-A Discussion in terms of H*(10). Radiation Protection Dosimetry (2009), Vol. 136, No. 4, pp. 256-261.

      W. Rühm, V. Mares, C. Pioch, E. Weitzenegger, H.G. Paretzke. Continuous Measurement of Secondary Neutrons from Cosmick Radiation at Low Atmospheric and Geomagnetic Shielding by Means of Bonner sphere spectrometers. Proceeding of 21stEuropean Cosmic Ray Symposium, 9 - 12 September 2008, Kosice, Slovakia.