Radiation effects on spacecraft & aircraft

Satellite systems are vulnerable to Space Weather through its influence on energetic charged particle and plasma populations, which produce a variety of effects, including total dose, lattice displacement damage, single event effects (SEE), noise in sensors and electrostatic charging. In addition aircraft electronics and aircrew are subjected to atmospheric secondary radiation produced by cosmic rays and solar particle events. European Union legislation requires the control of aircrew exposure, while the decreasing feature size of modern microelectronics is leading to increased vulnerability to SEE. Such effects are also starting to afflict sea-level systems. Examples of all the above effects arc given from observed spacecraft anomalies or on-board dosimetry. These demonstrate the need for improved monitoring, understanding and prediction accuracy for Space Weather.