Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
ACP
Articles | Volume 25, issue 16
Articles | Volume 25, issue 16
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9235-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9235-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 25, issue 16
Research article
 | 
25 Aug 2025
Research article |  | 25 Aug 2025

Synoptic and microphysical lifetime constraints for contrails

Sina Maria Hofer and Klaus Martin Gierens

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AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
AR by Sina Hofer on behalf of the Authors (29 Apr 2025)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (08 May 2025) by Martina Krämer
RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (10 May 2025)
RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (12 May 2025)
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (13 May 2025) by Martina Krämer
AR by Sina Hofer on behalf of the Authors (13 May 2025)  Manuscript 
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Short summary
The climate effect of contrails depends on the contrail lifetime. Thus, it is important to know what constrains the lifetime. In this paper, we characterise the two most important contrail dissolution processes via their respective timescales. Both timescales are in the order of a couple of hours, depending on the synoptic situation and the size of the contrail ice crystals. The combined timescale, which combines both processes, is the harmonic mean of the two single timescales.
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