Contrail cirrus supporting areas in model and observations

Details Contrail cirrus supporting areas in model and observations Contrail cirrus supporting areas in model and observations

Aug 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008georl..3516808b&link_type=abstract

Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 35, Issue 16, CiteID L16808

Physics

7

Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Cloud Physics And Chemistry, Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Troposphere: Composition And Chemistry, Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Constituent Sources And Sinks

Scientific paper

Contrails form and persist dependent on the surrounding moisture, temperature and pressure fields and on fuel and aircraft specific variables. After formation, contrail persistence requires only supersaturation relative to ice. The fractional area in which contrails can form is called potential contrail coverage. We introduce a potential contrail cirrus coverage equivalent to the cloud free supersaturated area. This field, simulated by the ECHAM4 climate model, agrees fairly well with estimates of supersaturation frequency as inferred from aircraft and satellite measurements. In areas where the two potential coverages are different, especially at lower flight levels, potential contrail coverage is not a valid estimate of maximum attainable contrail cirrus coverage. We parameterize both potential coverages consistently with the ECHAM4 cloud cover parameterization. A comparison of the potential contrail coverage with an earlier estimate reveals substantial differences especially at upper height levels in the tropics.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Contrail cirrus supporting areas in model and observations does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Contrail cirrus supporting areas in model and observations, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Contrail cirrus supporting areas in model and observations will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1860965