Aviation-Contrail Impacts on Climate and Climate Change: A Ready-to-Wear Research Mantle for Geographers

Although geographers are highly visible in research into contemporary climate changes accompanying greenhouse gas increases (“global warming”), a relatively little explored component by them is the impact of aviation. This contrasts with the atmospheric science community of cloud physicists, chemists, and numerical modelers, who use geographic tools of trade. Geographers are well positioned to investigate aviation-climate impacts, especially related to contrail clouds, given geographic traditions of environment, spatial variation, regionalization, generalization, and the integrative approach to studying physical and human systems (here, climate, transportation, and energy). We highlight the role played by geographers in contrail-climate studies and advocate for a broader involvement in aviation policy formulation.     

Aviation-Produced Aerosols and Contrails

Liquid and solid particles in the plumes of jet aircraft cruising in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere lead to the formation of ice clouds (contrails), modify the microphysical properties of existing cirrus clouds, and provide sites for heterogeneous chemical reactions. Characterization of aviation-produced particles in terms of physico-chemical properties is an important step in assessing the global impact of aircraft emissions upon atmospheric chemistry and climate parameters. Chemistry and microphysics of the gas-aerosol system in aircraft plumes and its evolution in the atmosphere is a field of intense research. This paper reviews the current knowledge (mid-1998) and outlines possible atmospheric implications.