Towards a contrail climatology from NOAA—satellite images over Europe
Contrail cloudiness over Europe and the eastern part of the North Atlantic Ocean was analyzed for the two periods Sept. 1979-Dec. 1981 and Sept. 1989-Aug. 1992 by visual inspection of quicklook photographic prints of NOAA/AVHRR infrared images. The averaged contrail cover exhibits maximum values alo...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1993
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0001-899E-3 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0001-89A0-F |
| Summary: | Contrail cloudiness over Europe and the eastern part of the North Atlantic Ocean was analyzed for the two periods Sept. 1979-Dec. 1981 and Sept. 1989-Aug. 1992 by visual inspection of quicklook photographic prints of NOAA/AVHRR infrared images. The averaged contrail cover exhibits maximum values along the transat- lantic flight corridor around 50°N (of almost 2%) and over western Europe resillting in 0.5% contrail cloudiness on the average. A strong yearly cycle appears with a maximum (< 2%) in spring and summer over the Atlantic and a smaller maximum (< 1%) in winter over southwestern Europe. Comparing the two time periods of one decade separation there is a significant decrease in contrail cloudiness over west- ern Europe and a significant increase over the North Atlantic observable between March and July. Contrail cloud cover during daytime is about twice as high as dur- ing nighttime. Contrails are preferably found in larger fields of 1000 km diameter which last usually for more than one day. Causes, possible errors and consequences are discussed. |
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