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In‐flight measurements of cruise altitude nitric oxide emission indices of commercial jet aircraft
Author(s) -
Schulte P.,
Schlager H.
Publication year - 1996
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 - 10.1029/95gl03691
Subject(s) - cruise , environmental science , jet (fluid) , altitude (triangle) , range (aeronautics) , atmospheric sciences , meteorology , jet engine , exhaust gas , aerospace engineering , physics , mechanics , thermodynamics , mathematics , engineering , geometry
Simultaneous in‐situ NO and CO 2 measurements on board the DLR Falcon research aircraft in the exhaust plumes of commercial short to medium range jet aircraft are used to determine lower limits for the NO x emission indices EI(NO x ) for cruising conditions. Concentration enhancements for NO and CO 2 of 9 to 33 ppbv and 4 to 14 ppmv, respectively, relative to ambient background concentrations were observed in the exhaust trails 40 s to 130 s after emission. The derived EI(NO x )‐limits range between 6.4 to 11.7 g/kg. Though the NO 2 fraction in the exhaust plumes has not been measured during these pilot investigations, arguments are given that the derived lower limits represent a close approximation to the EI(NO x ) values. Within the present uncertainties they are in agreement with predictions based on ground‐based engine test data.