Abstract Enhanced radiation at aviation altitudes is a concern for flight crew and passengers. During space weather events, solar flares and coronal mass ejection (CME) driven shocks are sources of energetic particles that can reach Earth's near‐space environment and interact with its magnetic field and atmosphere. Although Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere offer some protection, at high aviation altitudes and particularly near the poles, this shielding effect is weaker leading to increasing radiation exposure and related health risks. In this study, we use data from the Automated Radiation Measurements for Aerospace Safety (ARMAS) instrument onboard a commercial United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Paris that deviated its flight path to mitigate the risk of increased radiation doses during the extreme geomagnetic storm in May 2024. This allows investigation of how the crew and passengers may have experienced enhanced radiation onboard the aircraft. For comparison, we estimate radiation exposure for an alternative flight from San Francisco to Paris around the same time that did not deviate from its planned path. The results show that during the 10 May 2024 geomagnetic storm, ARMAS measured sporadic high absorbed dose rates onboard the deviated flight. However, exposure could have been significantly higher (up to three times higher) if the airline had not deviated to lower latitudes, highlighting the need for precautionary measures during space weather events. Additionally, it is shown that precipitating electrons from the Van Allen radiation belts may significantly contribute to radiation levels at flight altitudes during enhanced geomagnetic activity.
Aryan et al. (Thu,) studied this question.