Applications of recombination chambers in the dosimetry of high energy radiation fields

High energy radiation fields exist in space, in the atmosphere at the height of commercial flights and in the vicinity of some accelerators. The characteristic features of these fields are their complex composition and broad energy spectrum. Estimation of the absorbed dose in such fields cannot be performed by consideration of the doses from all the radiation field components. The physically possible way to solve the problem is to determine the operational quantity-ambient dose equivalent H* (10). The radiation detector used for the determination of H* (10) should be large enough in order to simulate the ICRU sphere. Its effective wall thickness should not be very different than 10 mm of tissue. The REM-2 type recombination chamber is an example of such a detector. The review paper presents specific challenges of high energy radiation field dosimetry and discusses a number of examples of measurements at high energy accelerators, including some international intercomparisons. We show that the REM-2 chamber is especially suitable for radiation monitoring in the vicinity of high energy accelerators.