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.

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
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1308663