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Airborne Measurements of Contrail Ice Properties—Dependence on Temperature and Humidity
Author(s) -
Bräuer T.,
Voigt C.,
Sauer D.,
Kaufmann S.,
Hahn V.,
Scheibe M.,
Schlager H.,
Diskin G. S.,
Nowak J. B.,
DiGangi J. P.,
Huber F.,
Moore R. H.,
Anderson B. E.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2020gl092166
Subject(s) - cirrus , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , extinction (optical mineralogy) , humidity , altitude (triangle) , water vapor , aerosol , meteorology , physics , geology , mineralogy , geometry , mathematics
The largest share in the climate impact of aviation results from contrail cirrus clouds. Here, the dependence of microphysical contrail ice properties and extinction on temperature and humidity is investigated. Contrail measurements were performed at various altitudes during the 2018 ECLIF II/NDMAX campaign with the NASA DC‐8 chasing the DLR A320. Ice number concentrations and contrail extinction coefficients are largest at altitudes near 9.5 km, typical for short‐ and medium‐range air traffic. At higher altitudes near 11.5 km, low ambient water vapor concentrations lead to smaller contrail particle sizes and lower extinction coefficients. In addition, contrails were detected below 8.2 km near the Schmidt‐Appleman contrail formation threshold temperature. Here, only a small fraction (<15%) of the emitted soot particles were activated into ice. Our observations enhance the understanding of contrail formation near the formation threshold and give a glimpse on the altitude dependence of climate‐relevant contrail properties.