Articles | Volume 17, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-403-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-403-2017
Research article
 | 
10 Jan 2017
Research article |  | 10 Jan 2017

Properties of individual contrails: a compilation of observations and some comparisons

Ulrich Schumann, Robert Baumann, Darrel Baumgardner, Sarah T. Bedka, David P. Duda, Volker Freudenthaler, Jean-Francois Gayet, Andrew J. Heymsfield, Patrick Minnis, Markus Quante, Ehrhard Raschke, Hans Schlager, Margarita Vázquez-Navarro, Christiane Voigt, and Zhien Wang

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Cited articles

Alcala-Jornod, C., van den Bergh, H., and Rossi, M. J.: Can soot particles emitted by airplane exhaust contribute to the formation of aviation contrails and cirrus clouds?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, 1820, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GL014115, 2002.
Andronache, C. and Chameides, W. L.: Interactions between sulfur and soot emissions from aircraft and their role in contrail formation, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 21443–21451, https://doi.org/10.1029/97JD01374, 1997.
Andronache, C. and Chameides, W. L.: Interactions between sulfur and soot emissions from aircraft and their role in contrail formation: 2. Development, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 10787–10801, https://doi.org/10.1029/98JD00173, 1998.
Ansmann, A., Wandinger, U., Riebesell, M., Weitkamp, C., and Michaelis, W.: Independent measurement of extinction and backscatter profiles in cirrus clouds by using a combined Raman elastic-backscatter lidar, Appl. Opt., 31, 7113–7131, https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.31.007113, 1992.
Ansmann, A., Bösenberg, J., Brogniez, G., Elouragini, S., Flamant, P. H., Klapheck, K., Linn, H., Menenger, L., Michaelis, W., Riebesell, M., Senff, C., Thro, P.-Y., Wandinger, U., and Weitkamp, C.: Lidar network observations of cirrus morphological and scattering properties during the International Cirrus Experiment 1989: The 18 October 1989 case study and statistical analysis, J. Appl. Meteor., 32, 1608–1622, 1993.
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Short summary
The initially linear clouds often seen behind aircraft are known as contrails. Contrails are prototype cirrus clouds forming under well-known conditions, but with less certain life cycle and climate effects. This paper collects contrail data from a large set of measurements and compares them among each other and with models. The observations show consistent contrail properties over a wide range of aircraft and atmosphere conditions. The dataset is available for further research.
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