Mitigation of Non-CO<sub>2</sub> Aviation’s Climate Impact by Changing Cruise Altitudes
Aviation is seeking for ways to reduce its climate impact caused by CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and non-CO<sub>2</sub> effects. Operational measures which change overall flight altitude have the potential to reduce climate impact of individual effects, comprising CO<sub>2&...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Aerospace |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/8/2/36 |
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| author | Sigrun Matthes Ling Lim Ulrike Burkhardt Katrin Dahlmann Simone Dietmüller Volker Grewe Amund S. Haslerud Johannes Hendricks Bethan Owen Giovanni Pitari Mattia Righi Agnieszka Skowron |
| author_facet | Sigrun Matthes Ling Lim Ulrike Burkhardt Katrin Dahlmann Simone Dietmüller Volker Grewe Amund S. Haslerud Johannes Hendricks Bethan Owen Giovanni Pitari Mattia Righi Agnieszka Skowron |
| author_sort | Sigrun Matthes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aviation is seeking for ways to reduce its climate impact caused by CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and non-CO<sub>2</sub> effects. Operational measures which change overall flight altitude have the potential to reduce climate impact of individual effects, comprising CO<sub>2</sub> but in particular non-CO<sub>2</sub> effects. We study the impact of changes of flight altitude, specifically aircraft flying 2000 feet higher and lower, with a set of global models comprising chemistry-transport, chemistry-climate and general circulation models integrating distinct aviation emission inventories representing such alternative flight altitudes, estimating changes in climate impact of aviation by quantifying radiative forcing and induced temperature change. We find in our sensitivity study that flying lower leads to a reduction of radiative forcing of non-CO<sub>2</sub> effects together with slightly increased CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and impacts, when cruise speed is not modified. Flying higher increases radiative forcing of non-CO<sub>2</sub> effects by about 10%, together with a slight decrease of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and impacts. Overall, flying lower decreases aviation-induced temperature change by about 20%, as a decrease of non-CO<sub>2</sub> impacts by about 30% dominates over slightly increasing CO<sub>2</sub> impacts assuming a sustained emissions scenario. Those estimates are connected with a large but unquantified uncertainty. To improve the understanding of mechanisms controlling the aviation climate impact, we study the geographical distributions of aviation-induced modifications in the atmosphere, together with changes in global radiative forcing and suggest further efforts in order to reduce long standing uncertainties. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:20:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b145d84235624fd784dc74d8dd5bcf0b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-4310 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:20:03Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aerospace |
| spelling | doaj.art-b145d84235624fd784dc74d8dd5bcf0b2023-12-03T11:49:14ZengMDPI AGAerospace2226-43102021-01-01823610.3390/aerospace8020036Mitigation of Non-CO<sub>2</sub> Aviation’s Climate Impact by Changing Cruise AltitudesSigrun Matthes0Ling Lim1Ulrike Burkhardt2Katrin Dahlmann3Simone Dietmüller4Volker Grewe5Amund S. Haslerud6Johannes Hendricks7Bethan Owen8Giovanni Pitari9Mattia Righi10Agnieszka Skowron11Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Erdsystem-Modellierung, Oberpfaffenhofen, 82334 Wessling, GermanyFaculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M15 6BH, UKDeutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Erdsystem-Modellierung, Oberpfaffenhofen, 82334 Wessling, GermanyDeutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Erdsystem-Modellierung, Oberpfaffenhofen, 82334 Wessling, GermanyDeutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Erdsystem-Modellierung, Oberpfaffenhofen, 82334 Wessling, GermanyDeutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Erdsystem-Modellierung, Oberpfaffenhofen, 82334 Wessling, GermanyGeophysics Department, University of Oslo, 0315 Oslo, NorwayDeutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Erdsystem-Modellierung, Oberpfaffenhofen, 82334 Wessling, GermanyFaculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M15 6BH, UKDepartment of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Università dell’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, ItalyDeutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Erdsystem-Modellierung, Oberpfaffenhofen, 82334 Wessling, GermanyFaculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M15 6BH, UKAviation is seeking for ways to reduce its climate impact caused by CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and non-CO<sub>2</sub> effects. Operational measures which change overall flight altitude have the potential to reduce climate impact of individual effects, comprising CO<sub>2</sub> but in particular non-CO<sub>2</sub> effects. We study the impact of changes of flight altitude, specifically aircraft flying 2000 feet higher and lower, with a set of global models comprising chemistry-transport, chemistry-climate and general circulation models integrating distinct aviation emission inventories representing such alternative flight altitudes, estimating changes in climate impact of aviation by quantifying radiative forcing and induced temperature change. We find in our sensitivity study that flying lower leads to a reduction of radiative forcing of non-CO<sub>2</sub> effects together with slightly increased CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and impacts, when cruise speed is not modified. Flying higher increases radiative forcing of non-CO<sub>2</sub> effects by about 10%, together with a slight decrease of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and impacts. Overall, flying lower decreases aviation-induced temperature change by about 20%, as a decrease of non-CO<sub>2</sub> impacts by about 30% dominates over slightly increasing CO<sub>2</sub> impacts assuming a sustained emissions scenario. Those estimates are connected with a large but unquantified uncertainty. To improve the understanding of mechanisms controlling the aviation climate impact, we study the geographical distributions of aviation-induced modifications in the atmosphere, together with changes in global radiative forcing and suggest further efforts in order to reduce long standing uncertainties.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/8/2/36aviation climate impactmitigation strategiesnon-CO<sub>2</sub> effectsnitrogen oxidesalternative aircraft trajectoriesalternative flight altitudes |
| spellingShingle | Sigrun Matthes Ling Lim Ulrike Burkhardt Katrin Dahlmann Simone Dietmüller Volker Grewe Amund S. Haslerud Johannes Hendricks Bethan Owen Giovanni Pitari Mattia Righi Agnieszka Skowron Mitigation of Non-CO<sub>2</sub> Aviation’s Climate Impact by Changing Cruise Altitudes Aerospace aviation climate impact mitigation strategies non-CO<sub>2</sub> effects nitrogen oxides alternative aircraft trajectories alternative flight altitudes |
| title | Mitigation of Non-CO<sub>2</sub> Aviation’s Climate Impact by Changing Cruise Altitudes |
| title_full | Mitigation of Non-CO<sub>2</sub> Aviation’s Climate Impact by Changing Cruise Altitudes |
| title_fullStr | Mitigation of Non-CO<sub>2</sub> Aviation’s Climate Impact by Changing Cruise Altitudes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mitigation of Non-CO<sub>2</sub> Aviation’s Climate Impact by Changing Cruise Altitudes |
| title_short | Mitigation of Non-CO<sub>2</sub> Aviation’s Climate Impact by Changing Cruise Altitudes |
| title_sort | mitigation of non co sub 2 sub aviation s climate impact by changing cruise altitudes |
| topic | aviation climate impact mitigation strategies non-CO<sub>2</sub> effects nitrogen oxides alternative aircraft trajectories alternative flight altitudes |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/8/2/36 |
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