Upper-Atmospheric Space and Earth Weather Experiment Element, Year 2

The USEWx project is seeking to monitor, record, and distribute atmospheric measurements of the radiation environment by installing a variety of dosimeters and other instrumentation on Armstrong aircraft. The goal is to routinely provide real-time, in-flight radiation measurements to modelers and the space-weather community. Radiation present in the upper atmosphere is harmful to humans and sensitive electronic equipment. Current radiation forecasting techniques employ data from satellites and ground-based detectors to predict radiation levels in flight. Aviation is trending toward flying at higher altitudes and over polar routes, where radiation events are more likely to occur and obtaining radiation data via traditional means is more difficult. Real-time, broad spectral-based radiation measurements are needed to improve radiation forecasts and space weather understanding.