Feasibility test of per-flight contrail avoidance in commercial aviation.

ABSTRACT: Contrails, formed by aircraft engines, are a major component of aviation's impact on anthropogenic climate change. Contrail avoidance is a potential option to mitigate this warming effect, however, uncertainties surrounding operational constraints and accurate formation prediction make it unclear whether it is feasible. Here we address this gap with a feasibility test through a randomized controlled trial of contrail avoidance in commercial aviation at the per-flight level. Predictions for regions prone to contrail formation came from a physics-based simulation model and a machine learning model. Participating pilots made altitude adjustments based on contrail formation predictions for flights assigned to the treatment group. Using satellite-based imagery we observed 64% fewer contrails in

SUBMITTER: Sonabend-W A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11659620 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature