Influence of weather situation on non-CO 2 aviation climate effects: the REACT4C climate change functions
Emissions of aviation include CO 2 , H 2 O , NO x , sulfur oxides, and soot. Many studies have investigated the annual mean climate impact of aviation emissions. While CO 2 has a long atmospheric residence time and is almost uniformly distributed in the atmosphere, non- CO 2 gases and particles and...
| Published in: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9151-2021 https://doaj.org/article/b9cfcf0b14974285bf19679a6c574147 |
| Summary: | Emissions of aviation include CO 2 , H 2 O , NO x , sulfur oxides, and soot. Many studies have investigated the annual mean climate impact of aviation emissions. While CO 2 has a long atmospheric residence time and is almost uniformly distributed in the atmosphere, non- CO 2 gases and particles and their products have short atmospheric residence times and are heterogeneously distributed. The climate impact of non- CO 2 aviation emissions is known to vary with different meteorological background situations. The aim of this study is to systematically investigate the influence of characteristic weather situations on aviation climate effects over the North Atlantic region, to identify the most sensitive areas, and to potentially detect systematic weather-related similarities. If aircraft were re-routed to avoid climate-sensitive regions, the overall aviation climate impact might be reduced. Hence, the sensitivity of the atmosphere to local emissions provides a basis for the assessment of weather-related, climate-optimized flight trajectory planning. To determine the climate change contribution of an individual emission as a function of location, time, and weather situation, the radiative impact of local emissions of NO x and H 2 O to changes in O 3 , CH 4 , H 2 O and contrail cirrus was computed by means of the ECHAM5/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry model. From this, 4-dimensional climate change functions (CCFs) were derived. Typical weather situations in the North Atlantic region were considered for winter and summer. Weather-related differences in O 3 , CH 4 , H 2 O , and contrail cirrus CCFs were investigated. The following characteristics were identified: enhanced climate impact of contrail cirrus was detected for emissions in areas with large-scale lifting, whereas low climate impact of contrail cirrus was found in the area of the jet stream. Northwards of 60 ∘ N, contrails usually cause climate warming in winter, independent of the weather situation. NO x emissions cause a high positive climate impact if released ... |
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