Aviation effects on already-existing cirrus clouds

Matthias Tesche; Peggy Achtert; Paul Glantz; Kevin J. Noone

doi:10.1038/ncomms12016

journal article Open Access Jun 21, 2016

Aviation effects on already-existing cirrus clouds

Matthias Tesche Peggy Achtert

Paul Glantz Kevin J. Noone

Nature Communications Vol. 7 No. 1 · Springer Science and Business Media LLC

View at Publisher Save 10.1038/ncomms12016

Abstract

AbstractDetermining the effects of the formation of contrails within natural cirrus clouds has proven to be challenging. Quantifying any such effects is necessary if we are to properly account for the influence of aviation on climate. Here we quantify the effect of aircraft on the optical thickness of already-existing cirrus clouds by matching actual aircraft flight tracks to satellite lidar measurements. We show that there is a systematic, statistically significant increase in normalized cirrus cloud optical thickness inside mid-latitude flight tracks compared with adjacent areas immediately outside the tracks.

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References

Details

Published: Jun 21, 2016
Vol/Issue: 7(1)
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Cite This Article

Matthias Tesche, Peggy Achtert, Paul Glantz, et al. (2016). Aviation effects on already-existing cirrus clouds. Nature Communications, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12016

Aviation effects on already-existing cirrus clouds

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