Calculator

Use the calculator below to estimate radiation exposure during a flight. The estimates are derived from data supplied by Amentum Scientific. Several European airlines rely on Amentum Scientific data to track crew exposure.

Instructions for finding altitude:

The calculator defaults to assuming your flight flew at 39,000 feet. Some flights fly higher, and others fly lower. To get a more accurate estimate of your flight's cruising altitude for insertion, use the following steps:

If your flight was in the past 2 weeks
  1. Enter your flight number into https://www.flightaware.com/. If you know the airline code you can include it, but you can also write something like "Jet Blue 858."
  2. Scroll down to identify the date of your flight.
  3. Select your flight.
  4. Under Flight Details select "View track log."
  5. To find the altitude for the majority of the flight, move your cursor over the yellow horizontal altitude line and check the corresponding altitude number displayed in the top left corner.
If your flight was more than 2 weeks ago, or is in the future

If your flight was more than 3 months ago, or is in the future, you can approximate the altitude by looking up a similar flight from the past 3 months. (Public flight tracking sites typically require paid subscriptions to access data from older flights.) To ensure accurate solar cycle predictions, the calculator does not allow entries for flights more than one month in the future.

  1. Go to: https://www.flightaware.com/live/findflight/.
  2. Enter the origin and destination.
  3. Select the airline on the left.
  4. Select any flight from the past.
  5. Under Flight Details select "View track log."
  6. To find the altitude for the majority of the flight, move your cursor over the yellow horizontal altitude line and check the corresponding altitude number displayed in the top left corner.

Notes

In some respects, the calculator may underestimate exposure. One study indicates that the CARI-7 FAA model used by Amentum Scientific produces lower exposure estimates compared to other models. Additionally, while the model does account for radiation changes due to the slowly-varying solar cycle, it does not account for increased radiation levels that can come from solar storms, nor how the aircraft structure shapes exposure.

At the same time, the model we are using assumes a steep takeoff and landing, which could slightly overestimate exposure levels. The model also assumes that each flight follows the shortest possible route between airports, a simplification that could potentially increase or decrease estimated exposure.