Radiation Impact of the Halloween GLE Events During the October–November 2003 Period

Abstract From late October to early November 2003, one of the strongest recorded geomagnetic storms occurred due to heightened solar activity. Three ground‐level enhancement events (GLEs) took place during this period, GLE 65, 66, and 67, known as the Halloween events. In this work we expand upon an...

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Main Authors: N. Larsen, A. Mishev
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-01-01
Series:Space Weather
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024SW004199
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author N. Larsen
A. Mishev
author_facet N. Larsen
A. Mishev
author_sort N. Larsen
collection DOAJ
description Abstract From late October to early November 2003, one of the strongest recorded geomagnetic storms occurred due to heightened solar activity. Three ground‐level enhancement events (GLEs) took place during this period, GLE 65, 66, and 67, known as the Halloween events. In this work we expand upon and use, the newly developed and verified dosimetric model Oulu CRAC:DOMO (Cosmic Ray Atmospheric Cascade: Dosimetric Model) to compute the radiation impact of the Halloween events at an altitude typical for aviation, that is of 35 kft. Complex magnetospheric modeling was performed for each GLE event and the deep Forbush decrease present was reconstructed and accounted for. Using a conservative approach, the computed total effective dose for all three Halloween GLEs was 135 μSv in polar regions, an increase of 129% above the galactic cosmic ray background induced dose. While this is a significant increase, we conclude that the radiation hazard posed to aircrew and passengers was relatively minor. In addition, a comparison between flight dosimetric measurements taken during the Halloween events and CRAC:DOMO showed a good agreement.
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spelling doaj-art-b73eff6cb55e4150b7f83898f52ada9e2025-01-28T10:40:44ZengWileySpace Weather1542-73902025-01-01231n/an/a10.1029/2024SW004199Radiation Impact of the Halloween GLE Events During the October–November 2003 PeriodN. Larsen0A. Mishev1Space Physics and Astronomy Research Unit University of Oulu Oulu FinlandSpace Physics and Astronomy Research Unit University of Oulu Oulu FinlandAbstract From late October to early November 2003, one of the strongest recorded geomagnetic storms occurred due to heightened solar activity. Three ground‐level enhancement events (GLEs) took place during this period, GLE 65, 66, and 67, known as the Halloween events. In this work we expand upon and use, the newly developed and verified dosimetric model Oulu CRAC:DOMO (Cosmic Ray Atmospheric Cascade: Dosimetric Model) to compute the radiation impact of the Halloween events at an altitude typical for aviation, that is of 35 kft. Complex magnetospheric modeling was performed for each GLE event and the deep Forbush decrease present was reconstructed and accounted for. Using a conservative approach, the computed total effective dose for all three Halloween GLEs was 135 μSv in polar regions, an increase of 129% above the galactic cosmic ray background induced dose. While this is a significant increase, we conclude that the radiation hazard posed to aircrew and passengers was relatively minor. In addition, a comparison between flight dosimetric measurements taken during the Halloween events and CRAC:DOMO showed a good agreement.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024SW004199space weatherradiationcosmic raysGLEHalloween storm
spellingShingle N. Larsen
A. Mishev
Radiation Impact of the Halloween GLE Events During the October–November 2003 Period
Space Weather
space weather
radiation
cosmic rays
GLE
Halloween storm
title Radiation Impact of the Halloween GLE Events During the October–November 2003 Period
title_full Radiation Impact of the Halloween GLE Events During the October–November 2003 Period
title_fullStr Radiation Impact of the Halloween GLE Events During the October–November 2003 Period
title_full_unstemmed Radiation Impact of the Halloween GLE Events During the October–November 2003 Period
title_short Radiation Impact of the Halloween GLE Events During the October–November 2003 Period
title_sort radiation impact of the halloween gle events during the october november 2003 period
topic space weather
radiation
cosmic rays
GLE
Halloween storm
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024SW004199
work_keys_str_mv AT nlarsen radiationimpactofthehalloweengleeventsduringtheoctobernovember2003period
AT amishev radiationimpactofthehalloweengleeventsduringtheoctobernovember2003period