What are Contrails? Contrails, short for condensation trails, are line-shaped clouds produced by an airplanes hot engine exhaust interacting with cold humid air several miles above t.
viation Contrails: What We Know and What We Dont about This Warming Phenomenon RMIs Contrail Impact Task Force is at the forefront of advancing solutions for the warming effect of these aviation-induced clouds. Our new comprehensive overview report shines a light on the science and potential solutions to aviations biggest non-CO 2 climate impact.
Current Understanding and Challenges The report highlights the complexity of contrail science, noting gaps in understanding how contrails form, persist, and impact climate. The lack of high-resolution, real-time data on atmospheric conditions (particularly humidity and temperature at cruising altitudes) hinders precise contrail forecasting.
Significant research over the next decade could lead to the deployment of a suite of technologies to enable the cost-effective mitigation of the climate impacts of contrails.
Two options are available: to avoid formation of any persistent contrail through avoiding ISSRs or by avoiding contrail climate sensitive areas (see Chapter 1.2), where persistent contrails will have a positive radiative forcing and a significant warming impact.
