Journal
JOURNAL OF ATMOSPHERIC AND SOLAR-TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS
Volume 123, Issue -, Pages 55-62Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jastp.2014.12.007
Keywords
Secondary cosmic-rays; Low-energy radiation; Monte-Carlo simulations; Absorbed dose
Funding
- Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia, within the project Nuclear Methods Investigations of Rare Processes and Cosmic Rays [171002]
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For a long time, it has been known that low-energy continuous gamma radiation is present in open air at the Earth's surface. In previous investigations it was assumed that this radiation is produced almost exclusively by gamma photons emitted due to the natural radioactivity, which are backscattered by air above ground. We show that significant amount of this radiation (related to energy region 30-300 keV) that peaks at about 90 keV, is produced by cosmic-rays, with the photon flux of about 3000 m(-2) s(-1). We find that the contribution of this omnipresent low-energy gamma radiation of cosmic-ray origin, including the corresponding low-energy electron flux, to the doses of general population are non-negligible components of overall doses induced by cosmic rays near sea level. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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