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

Sandhu, Ajvir S.; Baldini, James U.L.

doi:10.1029/2018gl080899

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

Sandhu, Ajvir S.; Baldini, James U.L.

Authors

Ajvir S. Sandhu

Professor James Baldini james.baldini@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

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.

Citation

Sandhu, A. S., & Baldini, J. U. (2018). Evaluating the significance of the contrail effect on diurnal temperature range using the Eyjafjallajökull eruption-related flight disruption. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(23), 13,090-13,098. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018gl080899

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Nov 18, 2018
Online Publication Date	Dec 2, 2018
Publication Date	Dec 16, 2018
Deposit Date	Nov 27, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Jun 2, 2019
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Print ISSN	0094-8276
Electronic ISSN	1944-8007
Publisher	Wiley
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	45
Issue	23
Pages	13,090-13,098
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1029/2018gl080899

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Copyright Statement
Advance online version Sandhu, Ajvir S. & Baldini, James U. L. (2018). Evaluating the significance of the contrail effect on diurnal temperature range using the Eyjafjallajökull eruption-related flight disruption. Geophysical Research Letters. DOI: 10.1029/2018GL080899. To view the published open abstract, go to https://doi.org/ and enter the DOI.