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Contrails: Visible Aviation Induced Climate Impact

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Atmospheric Physics

Part of the book series: Research Topics in Aerospace ((RTA))

Abstract

Contrails are aircraft induced linear ice particle clouds. In ice-supersaturated air masses, contrails persist and develop into contrail cirrus. Aviation changes cloudiness also by soot emissions and other aerosols. In the global mean, contrail cirrus warms the atmosphere. The local warming induced by a contrail varies strongly relative to the global mean, and may be positive or negative, depending on aircraft, route, solar and Earth-atmosphere parameters. Here we summarize present knowledge on contrails with respect to aviation and atmospheric research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DLR, Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IPA), Münchner Straße 20, 82234, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany

    Ulrich Schumann, Kaspar Graf, Hermann Mannstein & Bernhard Mayer

  2. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU), Meteorological Institute Munich (MIM), Theresienstraße 37, 80333, München, Germany

    Bernhard Mayer

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  1. Ulrich Schumann
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  2. Kaspar Graf
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  3. Hermann Mannstein
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  4. Bernhard Mayer
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Correspondence to Ulrich Schumann .

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  1. und Raumfahrt, DLR-Institut fuer Physik der Atmosphaere, Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft-, Oberpfaffenhofen, 82230, Germany

    Ulrich Schumann

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Schumann, U., Graf, K., Mannstein, H., Mayer, B. (2012). Contrails: Visible Aviation Induced Climate Impact. In: Schumann, U. (eds) Atmospheric Physics. Research Topics in Aerospace. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30183-4_15

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