INFORMATION ABOUT CARI-7 (15 Nov 2018 version)

NOTICE
This program and documentation is disseminated under the sponsorship of 
the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information 
exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for the 
contents thereof.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION 

2. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS   

3. USING THE PROGRAM VIA MENUS
  A. FLIGHT PROFILES AND CALCULATING FLIGHT DOSES
    i. FLIGHTS FOLLOWING GEODESIC ROUTES 
    ii. FLIGHTS FOLLOWING A USER-SPECIFIED PATH
  B. AIRPORT DATA
    i. SEARCHING AIRPORT DATA
    ii. ADDING/EDITING AIRPORTS
  C. DOSE RATES AT SPECIFIC LOCATIONS
  D. SOLAR MODULATION OF GALACTIC COSMIC RADIATION
  E. DEFAULT SETTINGS, SCRIPTING, AND REVIEW OF OUTPUT
    i. CHANGING DEFAULT SETTINGS AND SCRIPTING 
    ii. REVIEW OF OLD OUTPUT

4. UNCERTAINTIES

5. DEVELOPERS OF CARI  

   
1. INTRODUCTION 

CARI-7 calculates the dose of galactic cosmic radiation received 
by an adult on a nonstop aircraft flight during any month from
January 1958 to the present. It can also calculate the
effective dose rate from galactic radiation at any specific
location in the atmosphere at altitudes up to 100 km.
  
The program takes into account the effects of solar activity,
as well as the geomagnetic field on galactic cosmic radiation 
levels for the date selected by the user. Radiation from solar 
particle events is not taken into account by the program,
with the exceptions that Forbush Decreases are taken into
account in the absence of Ground Level Events, and geomagnetic 
cutoffs are adjusted for Kp index if data are available.

Doses and dose rates are integrated from databases of cosmic 
ray showers calculated by MCNPX 2.7.0. The shower intensities are 
derived from the primary cosmic ray (GCR) input spectrum. CARI-7
uses the local interstallar spectrum from the ISO 2004 GCR model 
modulated by the heliocentric potential method.  


2. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS/INSTALLATION

Compiled versions are provided for Intel processsors running 64-bit
Windows and 64-bit Linux (the computer is running RHEL 5). The 
program and associated files use about 80 MB of disk space. This 
will not increase much with use unless debugging output is turned 
on in the INI file. 

To use the Linux version, adjust the VIEWER and OS variables in the 
CARI.INI file and replace the Win64 executable in the main directory 
(CARI-7.exe) with the Linux executable from the subdirectory 
/Linux_Intel_64bit (A Windows executable is archived in /WIN64_Intel).

Particularly on older systems, limiting cpu access may significantly  
improve performance of other concurrently running programs.    


3. USING THE PROGRAM

The program starts at the MAIN MENU. 
To see this HELP file select item 1. 
To enter flight profiles and calculate flight doses select item 2.
To find, change, or add airport information select item 3.
To execute calculations of dose rates at locations select item 4.
To add or lookup heliocentric potential data select item 5.
To see past calculation results or change settings select item 6.
To exit select item 7.    

3.A. FLIGHT PROFILES AND CALCULATING FLIGHT DOSES

There are 2 kinds of flight profiles the program can analyze. 
Flights that follow approximately geodesic (great circle) routes
between airports are stored collectively in archives called *.BIG 
files. Flights that follow waypoint defined flight paths are
stored individually in *.DEG files.

Selecting item 2 on the MAIN MENU brings up the option of analyzing 
a BIG or DEG file. 

Both BIG files from CARI-6 and DEG files from CARI-6M are usable by 
CARI-7.

3.A.i. FLIGHTS FOLLOWING GEODESIC ROUTES 

Selecting option <1> will list of all of the available BIG files 
in the current directory. BIG files are just ordinary text files 
containing flight information needed by CARI to do an analysis. 
The file EXAMPLE.BIG is provided as an example for you to use as 
a template. The program expects the filename to follow the  
traditional 8.3 format, so give it name with 8 characters or 
less, e.g. EXAMPLE1.BIG. Dozens of *.BIG files are allowed, and 
there is no limit to the size of a BIG file. CARI-6 users have run 
files with thousands of flights.  

Up to 16 BIG files can be listed at any one time. Unused BIG files 
should be removed from the directory to reduce clutter and make it
easier to find the one you want to use. 

FORMAT OF A FLIGHT PROFILE IN A BIG FILE

New York-Seattle  Flight ID of 1 to 20 characters
07/1995           Flight date (MM/YYYY)  
KJFK              ICAO code of origin airport  
KSEA              ICAO code of destination airport 
2                Number of en route altitudes
29               Minutes climbing to 1st en route altitude
35000    99      1st en route altitude:  feet   minutes
39000   147      2nd en route altitude:  feet   minutes
17               Minutes descending to destination airport

If 00 is entered in the MM positions of the flight date, the
flight dose calculated will be the average for the year.
  
After the first en route altitude, time at an en route altitude
is expected to include minutes climbing or descending from the 
previous en route altitude.

Flight doses can be calculated for the dates entered with the
flight profiles or for other dates. To calculate a dose for a more 
specific time than a monthly average, it must be entered through
the file DEFAULT.INP or at run time. 

3.A.ii. FLIGHTS FOLLOWING A USER-SPECIFIED PATH

Selecting option <2> will list of all of the available DEG files 
in the current directory. DEG files are text files containing 
the user-specified waypoints that define the flight. CARI uses a 
geodesic route, constant speed, and a constant rate of climb or 
descent between each waypoint pair. The file EXAMPLE.DEG is provided 
as an example for you to use as a template.  
 
01/2002, FL-27                           
DEG MIN N/S DEG MIN E/W FEET TIME(MIN)   
4, 58.76, N, 97, 0.27, W, 667, 0                
3, 30.29, N, 85, 32.60, W, 33000, 6
2, 17.01, N, 84, 15.59, W, 33000, 15
1, 17.01, S, 84, 15.59, W, 37000, 18
2, 24.25, S, 3, 28.7, W, 37000, 21
3, 28.30, S, 0, 27.2, W, 80, 25

The first line is the flight date and name, the second line is 
headers to aid the reader, and all folowing lines are waypoints.
In each waypoint data line the data are is comma separated:
Column 1 is integer degrees latitude
Column 2 is real minutes latitude
Column 3 is N or S designator (equator can be either)
Column 4 is integer degrees longitude
Column 5 is real minutes longitude
Column 6 is E or W designator (prime meridian can be either)
Column 7 is integer altitude in feet 
Column 8 is integer time in minutes from start of flight

Flight doses can be calculated for the dates entered with the
flight profiles or for other dates. To calculate a dose for a more 
specific time than a monthly average, it must be entered through
the file DEFAULT.INP or at run time. 

3.B. AIRPORT DATA

3.B.i. SEARCHING AIRPORT DATA
The program databases already contains information on over 5000
airports worldwide. The International Civil Aviation Organization 
(ICAO) airport codes are used by the program to access this data.
The code for an airport may be found by choosing item <3> on 
the MAIN MENU.  This will bring up the AIRPORT MENU. You can 
search by city name (1), airport name (2), or ICAO code (3).  
When searching by name use the first few characters and try 
alternate spellings. To find codes for airports in Washington, DC,
for example, examine all city entries beginning with Washington.  
Note that for cities with several airports, not all entries may
appear on the first screen.  

3.B.ii. ADDING/EDITING AIRPORTS
For airports not in the databases or to make corrections, the 
geographic coordinates (degrees and minutes), elevation (feet), 
and airport code for the new entry may be entered into the file 
NEWPORTS.DAT either with a text editor or by choosing item <4> on the 
AIRPORT MENU (item <3> on the MAIN MENU). If the new airport will  
become a permanent change, copy the new data line from NEWPORTS.DAT 
to AIRPORTS.DAT.

The format is as an 89 character string containing:
CITY NAME(30 Characters), ICAO CODE (4-6 characters), 
AIRPORT NAME(30 Characters), 
LATITUDE (6 Characters +0) DDMMSS0, N?S character (0 for North), 
LONGITUDE (7 Characters +0) DDDMMSS0, E?W character (0 for West), 
AIRPORT RUNWAY ALTITUDE IN FEET (5 Characters +0), e.g.,

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA           YPAD  ADELAIDE INTL                 
3456420}13831540}000200

Airports may also be imported from older versions of CARI, since this
is the legacy data format. Copy the lines from the older files to 
either AIRPORTS.DAT (recommended) or NEWPORTS.DAT.  

If multiple airports have the same ICAO code and different location 
data, CARI will use the data for the first one found in PORT.NDX.  

The sorted files are rebuilt at start and whenever a new airport
might have been added through the internal menus.  

3.C. DOSE RATES AT SPECIFIC LOCATIONS

You can calculate the dose rate at a specific location or from a 
list of pre-defined locations by selecting item (4) from the MAIN 
MENU. To calculate for a single location, choose item (1) from the 
LOCATION MENU and make selections as requested by CARI.

Selecting item <1> to calculate the dose rate for a single location 
and set of conditions does not alter PLACES.ANS and the results are 
only printed to screen, not saved. If you want to keep it, make a note.

Selecting item <2> starts analysis of location data file (*.LOC). 
Results of dose rate calculations are stored in files ending with the
.ANS extension (e.g., results for MY.LOC will be placed in MY.ANS). 

LOC files can be edited by selecting item <3> from the LOCATION MENU. 
Lines are comma delimited and each line is limited to 66 characters. 
Adding more characters will introduce junk lines to the output file 
and may result in unread data at the end of the line. The sample file 
PLACES.LOC has many notes to guide customization of this kind of file.

The format is 
START----------
data line 1
data line 2
etc.
STOP-----------

Everything above the first line begining with "START-" is considered 
a comment, as is everything below the first line begining with 
"STOP--". See the SAMPLE.LOC for more details.

To view results select item <4>. The ANS is rewritten each time when 
using item <2>, so to keep the results it is best to rename the LOC 
file or copy the ANS file elsewhere before re-using an a location set. 

Choosing item <5> opens this help file.

Collections of locations can also be analysed from the command line
(see 3.F.) by designating the name of the location data file in 
DEFAULT.INP.


3.D. MODULATION OF GALACTIC COSMIC RADIATION

The GCR data are modified based on up to 3 factors: long-term solar 
activity accounted for using monthly averaged heliocentric potentials,
short-term variations in solar activity from the monthly average such 
as Forbush decreases accounted for using hourly neutron monitor count 
rate data, and geomagnetic storm effects accounted for using the 
Kp index. Ionizing radiation increases from solar proton events are 
not included.
  
3.D.i. SOLAR MODULATION BY HELIOCENTRIC POTENTIAL 

Flight doses for specific flight profiles normally change very
little in a couple of months.  For example, on a nonstop one-way 
flight from Chicago to London, flight doses during 1998 were 52.3 
microsieverts in February, 53.5 microsieverts in March, and 52.9 
microsieverts in April (CARI-6 values).

CARI-7 uses the ISO model local interstellar spectrum (LIS) modulated 
by the heliocentric potential method, instead of the Wolf sunspot and 
magnetic field orientation driven method described in the ISO report. 
While still producing a slowly varying GCR spectrum at Earth orbit, 
this type of modulation is more dynamic that the original ISO 
modulation. Also known as the Ehmert potential, the heliocentric 
potential was also used in CARI-6 to adjust for changes in galactic 
cosmic radiation levels that occur with changes in solar activity. 
Because of a desire for continuity, heliocentric potentials for CARI-6 
are usable by CARI-7, despite differences in primary GCR LIS. 
Adjustments are made internally.

Recent heliocentric potentials are available on our Web site. 
Search for "FAA Radiobiology heliocentric" and follow the links. 
The current address as of Nov. 2018 is:

http://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/aeromedical/
radiobiology/heliocentric/

There is a lag of about one month in availability of heliocentric 
potential data on our Web site. To estimate flight doses during the 
current month or a future month, we suggest you use the most recent 
heliocentric potential available. We do not recommend using
a heliocentric potential more than two months removed from the 
month of interest, particularly during solar maximum.   

Heliocentric potentials with corresponding dates are in a 
permanent database (MV-DATES.L99) and in a user-modifiable
database (MORDATES.2K).  Enter new monthly heliocentric potential 
data obtained from the Web site into MV-DATES.L99. Data in 
MOREDATES.2K takes precedence over data in MV-DATES.L99
so be careful to keep it clean if you use it to override 
the permanent database.

CARI-7 looks for these data in the file \SOLARMOD\MV-DATES.L99  

The effects of geomagnetic storms and Forbush decreases on primary 
GCR flux are usually ignored. However, for comparison with instrument 
measurements, using the specific day and hour of the measurement is 
best practice. This level of time specificity invokes the Forbush 
and geomagnetic storm based adjustment subroutines, which are not 
needed for monthly average calculations. Using these routines 
significantly increases run times. 

3.D.ii. Forbush Effects

Hourly deviations in GCR from the monthly average such as Forbush 
decreases are kept in the file \FORBUSH\FORBUSH.DAT. The format is 
based on the WDC neutron monitor data format, with the last column 
added as the hourly count rate relative to the monthly average.
If data are not found, the monthly average is used.

3.D.iii. GEOMAGNETIC STORMS 

Short term variations in geomagnetic shielding are accounted for 
using the Kp index. The data are stored in \KP_INDEX\KP_INDEX.TXT
and current data are available from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction 
Center. As with the Forbush data, if data are not present, 
geomagnetically quiet conditions are used. 


3.E. DEFAULT SETTINGS, SCRIPTING, AND REVIEW OF OUTPUT

Item (5) on the MAIN MENU brings up the OUTPUT MENU, which allows 
easy editing of the CARI.INI and DEFAULT.INP files, as well as 
review of old output files. 

3.E.i. CHANGING DEFAULT SETTINGS AND SCRIPTING 
From the OUTPUT MENU you can change the model settings in 
CARI.INI (item 1) and change the default input data for batch 
mode/shell scripting stored in DEFAULT.INP (item 2). The notes  
in CARI.INI and DEFAULT.INP explain how to change the files 
appropriately. I suggest backing them up somewhere so you can 
always restore the default settings if needed. To take advantage 
of this kind of operational use, and avoid using the internal 
menu structure, set the MENUS variable in the CARI.INI file to
'NO!'. This can be very useful when using the same flight profile(s)
but different dates or setting automated calculations.

3.E.ii. REVIEW OF OLD OUTPUT
Using the OUTPUT MENU item (3) you can also review/edit 
previously calculated flight dose archives. Selecting item (4) 
loads the current contents of PLACES.ANS into the default editor.


4. UNCERTAINTIES

Uncertainties in the component models were combined under the 
assumptions of complete independence of variables, a normal 
distribution of values, and that individual element uncertainties 
were expressed in terms of standard uncertainties, equivalent to 
standard deviations with respect to combining uncertainties. These
should be considered only an an indicator of statistical precision. 
After including a safety factor of 2, the estimated uncertainty 
from all sources is about 30% for commercial altitudes.   


5. DEVELOPERS OF CARI  

CARI-7/7A (all versions)
Kyle Copeland
Mail route AAM-631 (Numerical Sciences Research)
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, Federal Aviation Administration
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma  73125-5066 USA
FAX (405) 954-1010
E-Mail  kyle.copeland@faa.gov

CARRIER (CARI-1) through CARI-6 
Wallace Friedberg, Frances E. Duke, Lorrenza Snyder, Kyle Copeland
Mail route AAM-610 (Radiobiology Research)
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, Federal Aviation Administration
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma  73125-5066 USA
FAX (405) 954-1010
E-Mail  kyle.copeland@faa.gov

Keran O'Brien, III
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, Arizona  86011

Donald E. Parker 
Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma  73190

Margaret A. Shea, Donald F. Smart
Air Force Geophysics Laboratory, Hanscom AFB
Bedford, Massachusetts  01731-5000

Many thanks to Dr. Copeland's thesis committee for their very useful 
comments and questions during the development of CARI-7: Brent Lewis, 
Emily Corcoran, Hughes Bonin, Andy Belyea and Kristine Spekkens at 
the Royal Military College of Canada, and Francios Lemay of i-s-r.ca. 
Thanks also to Tyler Dumouchel of i-s-r.ca (Canada) and Tatsuhito Sato 
of JAERI (Japan) for their data and comments. Also, special thanks to 
Paul Goldhagen, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, for his data and
many hours of discussion about GCR modeling with MCNPX and MCNP.   

We are grateful to Margaret D. Wilson (Ottawa, Canada), working
under the auspices of the Bartol Research Institute of the
University of Delaware, USA, and Eduard Vashenyuk of the Apatity
Cosmic Ray Station, Polar Geophysical Institute, Russia, for
providing neutron monitor counting rate data used to calculate
the heliocentric potential and Forbush adjustments.

Finally, thanks to the many other colleagues who contributed to the 
development of CARI through its long history, particularly:  
Edgar B. Darden, Jr., Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
Ernst Feldsberger of the University of Graz, Austria
Alfredo Ferrari, INFN, Sezione di Milano, Italy 
Wolfgang Heinrich, University of Siegen, Germany
Maurizio Pelliccioni, INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Italy
M. Pillon, Associazione EURATOM-ENEA sulla Fusione Centro Ricerche, 
     Frascati, Italy 
Stefan Roesler, CERN, Switzerland 
Timothy C. Lamey and Donald N. Faulkner of the Civil Aerospace
Medical Institute, FAA, USA.

Our thanks as well to all those who and have given us feedback over 
the many years, aiding the development of CARI.

