Epcard

EPCARD is a computer program of the European Union for the calculation of the cosmic radiation in aviation

EPCARD is the acronym for " European Program Package for the Calculation of Aviation Route Dose". With EPCARD one can calculate the dose that caused by the main components of cosmic radiation at arbitrary flight paths and profiles at flight altitudes 5-25 km.

The program was conducted by scientists at the Institute of Radiation Protection, Helmholtz Zentrum München, the German Research Center for Environmental Health (formerly GSF - National Research Center for Environment and Health ) developed with support from the European Commission (Traffic Department ) and the University of Siegen.

Basis of calculation

EPCARD simulated for a particular flight ( with a time resolution of one minute ), the actual radiation field, which is caused by secondary particles impinging on the earth primary cosmic radiation. It is based on energy spectra of neutrons, protons, photons, electrons and positrons, muons, pions and calculated down to the Monte Carlo simulation program FLUKA for different heights above the sea level to sea level. All relevant physical parameters such as the amount of solar activity, and the shield may be taken into account by the earth's magnetic field. An extensive database of so-called fluence -to- dose conversion factors we used to calculate from the simulated Teilchenenergiespektren the ambient dose equivalent (H * (10) ) and the effective dose ( E) in the unit mSv.

Admission

In December 2003 issued the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA ) and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt ( PTB) of EPCARD version 3:34 the official approval for the calculation of dose from cosmic radiation from flying personnel. A program for flight personnel by the LBA was released on 15 November 2005 for the first time. In April 2010, the EPCARD.Net Professional version 5.4.3 has been officially approved by the LBA and the PTB for the calculation of the dose from cosmic radiation from flying personnel.

Technology

EPCARD.NET based on the same physical algorithms such EPCARD Version 3:34, however, allowed on the basis of a detailed description of the physical processes involved, a more accurate calculation of routes in cans. EPCARD.NET was reprogrammed and can be used in many modern operating systems using. NET or Mono runtime environments. These include, for example, Microsoft Windows NT/2K/XP/Vista or Unix-like systems such as Linux, Mac OS X or Solaris.

Comparisons of calculated and measured in aircraft values ​​show a good agreement.

Use

Among the users of the software include major German airlines such as Lufthansa, Condor and LTU.

A simplified version of EPCARD is on the EPCARD site available free dose calculations can be performed for any flights.