What is AVIDOS?

Cosmic radiation consists of ionising particles originating outside the solar system as well as from the sun. They produce secondary particles in the earth‘s atmosphere. Some of them reach even the earth‘s surface. Persons present at higher altitude, such as aircraft crew, obtain more cosmic radiation exposure than those at sea level. During extraordinary solar conditions, which affect the earth on average once per year, the radiation exposure can be significantly higher than during normal solar conditions.

AVIDOS is based on Monte Carlo simulations of cosmic radiation transport in the atmosphere. AVIDOS is extensively validated by numerous on-board aircraft measurements. AVIDOS calculates the effective dose, E, between 8 km and 15 km of altitude, for any geographic location and for whole cycle of solar activity. Effective dose, E, is the limiting radiation protection quantity related to a cancer risk to an organism due to ionizing radiation. It is recommended, that for public the annual dose should not exceed one millisievert (mSv). The annual dose limit for aircraft crew is 20 millisievert (mSv). This version of AVIDOS cannot be used for commercial radiation protection purposes. For the use of commercial radiation protection purposes please contact us.

The development of AVIDOS was supported by the European Space Agency, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport and Innovation, and the Austrian Agency for Aviation and Space (ALR) as part of the Austrian Promotion Agency, FFG.