Influence of temperature and humidity on contrail formation regions in the general circulation model EMAC: a spring case study

Peter, Patrick; Matthes, Sigrun; Frömming, Christine; Jöckel, Patrick; Bugliaro, Luca; Giez, Andreas; Krämer, Martina; Grewe, Volker

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5911-2025

Articles | Volume 25, issue 11

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5911-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

The Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy) (ACP/GMD inter-journal...

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5911-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 25, issue 11

Research article

|

12 Jun 2025

Research article |

| 12 Jun 2025

Influence of temperature and humidity on contrail formation regions in the general circulation model EMAC: a spring case study

Patrick Peter, Sigrun Matthes, Christine Frömming, Patrick Jöckel, Luca Bugliaro, Andreas Giez, Martina Krämer, and Volker Grewe

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5911-2025-supplement

Data sets

ML-CIRRUS mission data C. Voigt et al. https://doi.org/10.17616/R39Q0T

ERA5 monthly averaged data on pressure levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.6860a573

Meteosat Second Generation – SEVIRI Level 1.5 Image Data EUMETSAT https://navigator.eumetsat.int/product/EO:EUM:DAT:MSG:HRSEVIRI

Model code and software

The Modular Earth Submodel System The MESSy Consortium https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8360186

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Short summary

Our study examines how well the global climate model EMAC (ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry) predicts contrail formation by analysing temperature and humidity – two key factors for contrail development and persistence. The model underestimates temperature, leading to an overprediction of contrail formation and larger ice-supersaturated regions. Adjusting the model improves temperature accuracy but adds uncertainties. Better predictions of contrail formation areas can help optimise flight tracks to reduce aviation's climate effect.