FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute

Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-16/5

Title and Subtitle: ESRAS: An Enhanced Solar Radiation Alert System

Report Date: July 2016

Authors: Copeland, K

Abstract: Since 2003, The Federal Aviation Administration has operated a Solar Radiation Alert System to aid the aerospace community and interested members of the flying public in their decision making with regards to solar ionizing radiation. The first alerts were issued during the solar storms of late October 2003. In the years since its initial operation, several improvements have been made to the calculations behind the dose rates and the means of communicating the results to the aerospace community and the flying public. The basic method of satellite data evaluation described in earlier reports remains unchanged, but it has been updated and expanded.

This report describes the most recent improvements, as well as those planned for inclusion in the next few years. The recent improvements include: new atmospheric response functions for protons, expansion of calculations to middle and low latitudes, and continuous updating of a global map of the most recent calculations. Other improvements planned include: the addition of solar alpha particle flux to the calculations, corrections for geomagnetic disturbance effects on global dose rates, and corrections for anisotropy based on available neutron monitor data.

Key Words: Radiation, Solar Radiation, Protons, Ionizing Radiation, Radiation Protection, Dosimetry, Solar Proton Event, Solar Radiation Storm, GOES, ESRAS, SRAS, ArcGIS

No. of Pages: 12