Cosmic radiation and flight dose calculator
Calculate the cosmic-ray dose rate in an aircraft cabin or on the ground from altitude, location and solar activity, and the dose of a flight.
Effective dose rate E: 3.226 µSv/h · H*(10): 3.858 µSv/h · Rc 3.47 GV
| Altitude | 11 km (36089 ft) |
|---|---|
| Location | latitude 50.1°, longitude 8.7° |
| Vertical cut-off rigidity Rc | 3.47 GV |
| Solar modulation W-index | 97.8 |
| Ambient dose equivalent rate H*(10) | 3.858 µSv/h |
| Effective dose rate E (ICRP 116) | 3.226 µSv/h |
Dose for this flight: 25.81 µSv
| Duration | 8 h |
|---|---|
| Effective dose (E × duration) | 25.81 µSv |
| Share of the 1 mSv per year limit for the public | 2.58 % |
| Repeats that add up to 1 mSv | 38.7 flights |
Galactic cosmic rays only; solar particle events are not included. One position and one epoch, no route integration. The public limit is 1 mSv per year (ICRP 103, Directive 2013/59/Euratom); aircrew are monitored under occupational rules instead.
Dose rates from PARMA 4.10 by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency: T. Sato, PLOS ONE 10(12):e0144679 (2015); T. Sato, PLOS ONE 11(8):e0160390 (2016). Atmosphere: US Standard Atmosphere 1976. PARMA/EXPACS, Japan Atomic Energy Agency.
Hold 11 km over Frankfurt for 8 hours at solar maximum and the effective dose rate is 3.23 µSv/h, so the flight adds up to 25.8 µSv, or 2.58 % of the 1 mSv per year limit for the public. Change the place, the altitude and the solar activity below.
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Example: What is the effective dose rate at 11 km over Frankfurt at solar maximum?
Method and limits
The dose rates come from PARMA 4.10, the analytical model of cosmic-ray fluxes in the atmosphere developed by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and distributed as EXPACS. We ran it once on a grid and the page interpolates in that grid: four solar modulation values (W-index 0, 50, 100 and 150), a vertical cut-off rigidity Rc from 0 to 17 GV, and altitudes of 0–20 km in an aircraft and 0–6 km on the ground. The interpolation is log-linear in altitude and linear in Rc and in the W-index.
Altitude is converted to atmospheric depth with the US Standard Atmosphere. Rc comes from the PARMA database for the present epoch, read by bilinear interpolation on a map with 5° steps in latitude and 10° in longitude; values above 17 GV are held at 17 GV. Solar minimum is the W-index of December 2009 (4.6) and solar maximum that of August 2024 (97.8). H*(10) uses the ICRP 74 conversion coefficients and the effective dose E the ICRP 116 coefficients for isotropic exposure.
Inside an aircraft the shielding is PARMA’s A340 reference mass; on the ground the soil holds 15 % water, PARMA’s recommended value. The aircraft figures are doses in a cabin at one place and one altitude, not along a route.
Validation: for the ER-2 flight in Table 3 of Sato (2015), 15 July 1997, 53.5 g/cm², Rc 11.4 GV, the neutron H*(10) from the same code is 1.284 µSv/h against 1.3 in the paper.
The grid is coarse. A route dose needs the position, altitude and solar activity along the whole flight, and this page stops at 20 km, 17 GV and four solar states. For route doses, or anything beyond this range, use EXPACS itself.
Effective dose rate at 11 km by place
Aircraft cabin at 11 km (36,089 ft), computed with the calculator above: solar minimum (W-index 4.6) and solar maximum (W-index 97.8). Higher latitude means a lower cut-off rigidity Rc and less shielding from the Earth’s magnetic field.
| Place | Rc (GV) | E, solar minimum (µSv/h) | E, solar maximum (µSv/h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equator | 13.6 | 1.6 | 1.45 |
| Rome | 6.4 | 2.86 | 2.46 |
| Frankfurt | 3.47 | 4.09 | 3.23 |
| London | 3.01 | 4.34 | 3.36 |
| New York | 2.36 | 4.76 | 3.58 |
| Tokyo | 11.2 | 1.86 | 1.68 |
| North Pole | 0 | 5.62 | 4 |
Credits
This page uses PARMA/EXPACS under the conditions of use of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. Please cite:
T. Sato, PLOS ONE 10(12):e0144679 (2015)
T. Sato, PLOS ONE 11(8):e0160390 (2016)
Model and software: PARMA/EXPACS, Japan Atomic Energy Agency.
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ScienceShot. Cosmic radiation and flight dose calculator. https://scienceshot.com/cosmic-radiation-dose-calculator.
Reviewed by a physicist with CERN and data-centre industry experience
ScienceShot calculation.
Cite this page
ScienceShot. (2026). Cosmic radiation and flight dose calculator [Online calculator]. https://scienceshot.com/cosmic-radiation-dose-calculator
@misc{scienceshot-cosmic-radiation-dose-calculator-2026,
author = {{ScienceShot}},
title = {{Cosmic radiation and flight dose calculator}},
year = {2026},
note = {Online calculator},
url = {https://scienceshot.com/cosmic-radiation-dose-calculator}
}