scholarly journals Hazards to Aircraft Crews, Passengers, and Equipment from Thunderstorm-Generated X-rays and Gamma-Rays

Radiation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 162-173
Author(s):  
Karl D. Stephan ◽  
Mikhail L. Shmatov

Both observational and theoretical research in the area of atmospheric high-energy physics since about 1980 has revealed that thunderstorms produce X-rays and gamma-rays into the MeV region by a number of mechanisms. While the nature of these mechanisms is still an area of active research, enough observational and theoretical data exists to permit an evaluation of hazards presented by ionizing radiation from thunderstorms to aircraft crew, passengers, and equipment. In this paper, we use data from existing studies to evaluate these hazards in a quantitative way. We find that hazards to humans are generally low, although with the possibility of an isolated rare incident giving rise to enough radiation dose to produce noticeable symptoms. On the other hand, unshielded computer memory chips in avionics systems stand a small but non-zero chance of severe damage from thunderstorm-generated radiation and would not leave easily detectable traces of the occurrence. Should a rare phenomenon called ball lightning occur near or within an aircraft, the possibility exists of substantial damage to both equipment and personnel. Overall, radiation hazards from thunderstorms appear to be low, but should be considered and investigated with radiation monitoring equipment on sample flights.

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (13) ◽  
pp. 1340025 ◽  
Author(s):  
SERGE DUARTE PINTO

From its invention in 1997, the Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) has been applied in nuclear and high energy physics experiments. Over time however, other applications have also exploited the favorable properties of GEMs. The use of GEMs in these applications will be explained in principle and practice. This paper reviews applications in research, beam instrumentation and homeland security. The detectors described measure neutral radiations such as photons, x-rays, gamma rays and neutrons, as well as all kinds of charged radiation. This paper provides an overview of the still expanding range of possibilities of this versatile detector concept.


In this chapter a comparison between various designs of micropattern detectors is given, describing their specific advantages and disadvantages, which finally determines the fields of their applications. It is shown that at low counting rates the maximum achievable gas gain is determined by the Raether limit, which is about 106-107 electrons, depending on the design. At high counting rates, the maximum achievable gain additionally drops due to the contribution of several other effects (e.g. avalanches overlapping in space and time). Typically, micropattern detectors have a position resolution of ~30 µm, energy resolution of ~ 20% FWHM for 6 keV X-rays, and a time resolutions of ~1 ns. Some advanced designs offer even better characteristics. The diversity of micropattern detectors makes them attractive for many applications. For example, in measurements requiring simultaneously excellent time and position resolutions, mutigap multistrip detectors can be used in high energy physics applications, and hole-type structures are advantageous for the detection of visible photons. In some commercial applications, where reliability and robustness are important, spark protected detectors with resistive electrodes could be useful.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2105 (1) ◽  
pp. 011001

HEP 2021 - 38th Conference on Recent Developments in High Energy Physics and Cosmology was successfully held online between the 16th to the 19th of June 2021, in Thessaloniki, Greece. The conference was jointly organized and sponsored by the Hellenic Society for the Study of High Energy Physics, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Research Committee of the Aristotle University. In the context of the conference scholars and experts in the fields of Astroparticle and High Energy Physics, involved both in experimental and theoretical research, were invited from various universities and institutions. The conference focused on the most recent advancements in topics such as ‘Highlights from the LHC experimental results’, ‘Astroparticle Physics’, ‘Cosmology’, ‘String Theory’, ‘Dark Matter’ and others. The main goal was to present the related research work of the Greek scientific community, to promote the cooperation of experts and scholars in the field, to share the research achievements both on a national and international level. All accepted speakers were eligible to contribute to the Conference Proceedings on a voluntary basis. This collection of Proceedings compiles oral and paper presentations submitted by the authors and scrutinized by the Editorial Committee. Because of restrictions on travel and indoor activities related to COVID-19, we were forced to hold the conference online only. Attendees were notified well in advance that the on-site conference was changed to an online conference, where the timeline and order of the talks were defined. The online conference was held on the video conferencing software Zoom Meeting. The video-conference was held on the original set dates. Due to the large variety of topics and the relatively large number of attendees, the conference was separated into main and parallel sessions (Webinar Room and Parallel Session Rooms respectively). The complete conference program, the slides of the presentations and the recordings of all oral presentations are available online. The opening ceremony was held in the main Webinar Room, where the president of the Hellenic Society for the Study of High Energy Physics, Professor Katerina Zachariadou delivered the welcoming speech. Each plenary speaker gave an oral presentation of 35 minutes accompanied by her/his slides’ material, along with 5 minutes extra time, allocated for questions and discussion. A dedicated convener chaired each plenary session. The organizing and editorial committees of the HEP2021 hope you will enjoy the reading of this volume of the JPCS. Additionally, we want to thank all authors and participants for providing their valuable contributions for these proceedings, as well as the reviewers for their constructive recommendations and feedback aiding to improve the presented articles. List of Organizing and Program Committee, Editorial Board and Invited Speakers are available in this pdf.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Jack Ng ◽  
Louise Dolan ◽  
Laura Mersini-Houghton ◽  
Paul Frampton

Author(s):  
Preeti Kumari ◽  
◽  
Kavita Lalwani ◽  
Ranjit Dalal ◽  
Ashutosh Bhardwaj ◽  
...  

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