THRESHOLD DISTANCES FOR RETINAL BURNS FROM LOW-YIELD NUCLEAR DETONATIONS.
Abstract
A method is given for predicting the threshold distances at which minimal retinal burns will be produced by nuclear detonations. This method relates calculated retinal exposure to experimentally determined burn threshold data. Predicted threshold distances are determined for the human eye exposed to sea-level, air-burst detonations from 0.01 to 10 kt. yield. The pupil diameter of the human eye is taken to be 2.5 mm. and 6.0 mm., respectively, for day and night conditions, and the effective focal length of the eye is taken to be 17 mm. The threshold distance for a bright daylight exposure with clear air (80 km.) visibility varies from about 1.3 to 11 km. as the detonation yield varies from 0.01 to 10 kt. Comparable distances for night exposures vary from 3.8 to 26 km. Calculations indicate that the use of a fixed filter with 2% transmission will result in retinal exposures more than an order of magnitude below the threshold exposure for these small daylight detonations. For nighttime conditions the retinal exposure is a factor of about 2.5 below the threshold exposure. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0641188
Entities
People
- Everett O. Richey
Organizations
- United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine