Evaluating the significance of the contrail effect on diurnal temperature range using the Eyjafjallajökull eruption-related flight disruption.

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Sandhu, Ajvir S., Baldini, James U. L.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: American Geophysical Union 2018
• Subjects: Eyjafjallajökull
• Online Access: http://dro.dur.ac.uk/26854/; http://dro.dur.ac.uk/26854/1/26854.pdf; http://dro.dur.ac.uk/26854/2/26854.pdf; http://dro.dur.ac.uk/26854/3/26854.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080899

Meteorological data collected during the post‐9/11 flight grounding in the USA suggested that the removal of contrails increased diurnal temperature range (DTR), but subsequent research has contested this result. The 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption resulted in a 97% flight cancellation rate across the UK, offering another rare opportunity to compare DTR under contrail‐free skies against those with contrails. Temperature data from 199 UK meteorological stations indicate that a +3.4 °C DTR anomaly occurred during the grounding interval across the region previously affected by the highest flight densities, substantially larger than the +1.1 °C anomaly previously observed but smaller than other DTR anomalies (up to ~+6 °C) that were independent of the grounding. Although the observed DTR anomalies are largely attributable to weather system migration, a contribution of up to +1°C from contrail absence appears reconcilable with both the observed time evolution in DTR during the Eyjafjallajökull grounding period and previous results.