TITLE:
Natural Radiation Dose and Geomagnetic Effect
AUTHORS:
Branko Vuković, Marina Poje Sovilj, Vanja Radolić, Igor Miklavčić, Josip Planinić
KEYWORDS:
Cosmic Radiation, Track Etch Detector, Geomagnetic Effect, Dose Rate
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.6 No.4,
April
10,
2018
ABSTRACT: Earth keeps getting bombarded by high-energy particles that originate in the outer space and in Sun. Cosmic radiation in Earth’s atmosphere consists of a photon and directly ionizing component and a neutron component. Charged particles of cosmic radiation are deflected by the geomagnetic field that is more expressed at the equator than near the poles. Photon radiation was measured by Radiameter ESM FH 40G-L10 at 26 main meteorological stations in all parts of Croatia. The correlation between the photon dose rate and latitude was examined, as well as multiple correlations for the photon dose, latitude and altitude. The obtained positive correlation coefficients were statistically significant. The neutron component of the cosmic radiation was measured by series of nuclear track-etched detectors, at the same meteorological stations during one year period. The dependence of the neutron dose rate on the altitude was found and the associated equation of the linear regression was derived. Relation between the values of neutron dose N and altitude h, showed significant dependence of the neutron dose on altitude. However, the correlation of neutron dose and geographic (geomagnetic) latitude was not statistically significant, probably due to a small range of geographic latitudes for the measuring stations in Croatia.