The radiation impact of Solar Energetic Particle Events on the Moon: A
statistical study using data-based modeling results
Abstract
The Moon lacks a global magnetic field and atmosphere, leaving its
surface been directly exposed to high-energy cosmic radiation. Sporadic
Solar Particle Events are sources of a significant radiation exposure,
potentially posing serious threats to the health of astronauts exploring
the Moon. Generally, Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) have a limited
penetration capabilities (value needed), and associated radiation doses
diminish significantly with increasing astronauts shielding. In this
paper, we use the Radiation Environment and Dose at the Moon (REDMoon)
model based on GEometry And Tracking (GEANT4) Monte-Carlo method to
calculate the body effective dose induced by 262 large historical SEP
events on the Moon under different shielding depths which can result
from the lunar regolith shielding and/or additional aluminum shielding.
We calculate and compare the contributions of SEPs within different
energy ranges to the total body effective dose and carry out a
statistical analysis based on the results from different SEP events.
Additionally, we develop empirical functions to rapidly assess
SEP-induced effective dose on the Moon under different shielding
scenarios.