Contrail observation has progressed leaps and bounds over the past decade. With satellite imagery, aircraft sensors, and ground cameras, we’re better equipped than ever to detect and monitor contrails.
Though challenges still persist in tracking the entirety of a contrail’s lifecycle, organizations like Reuniwatt, a leader in high-resolution cloud cover observation, are working to clear the air. Reuniwatt’s all-sky imagers are being wielded to measure and avoid the big hit flights responsible for a majority of contrails’ warming impact. Finding alternative flight paths for the aircraft generating big hits will be crucial for contrail management.
In a publication about the all-sky imager, Reuniwatt touts that using their infrared cameras on the ground “enables better estimation and forecasting of cloud optical thickness than numerical weather models, and opens up new possibilities for contrail researchers and better flight planning to avoid the trails.” 1 Indeed, these cameras are already being used by contrail researchers at EUROCONTROL.
At their contrail observatory on the roof of their Innovation Hub (EIH), EUROCONTROL is working with the Sky Cam Vision™ for daylight contrail tracking and the infrared Sky InSight™ for both day and night observation. The data collected from the ground cameras is combined with satellite imagery and air traffic data to develop machine-learning algorithms for contrail detection.2
The combination and application of these technologies will improve our ability to monitor and assess contrail formation and their climate impact. This brings us another step closer to implementing actionable contrail management strategies which can balance the cost of fuel burn with the benefits of avoiding big hit flights.
If you’re interested in learning more about contrail observation and the methods driving its application, Reuniwatt, Google, and EUROCONTROL will be hosting a webinar on October 10, 2024 to dive deeper into the technology. They will be discussing the possibilities and the limitations of current systems and the lessons learned thus far in the efforts of contrail avoidance.
[1] Reuniwatt Big Picture | Sky Imager for Contrail Observation
[2] EUROCONTROL Contrail Observatory | Innovation Hub Contrail Research