Flight path changes aim to cut planes' climate-warming contrails
A trial backed by the UK government and Google will use AI to look at how aircraft can reduce their vapour trails by tweaking their flight paths. Operation Blue Skies comprises two trials that will be conducted during the winter in the Shanwick Oceanic airspace above the eastern half of the North Atlantic corridor. The trials will evaluate the feasibility and environmental benefits of adjusting…
A UK-government backed initiative, Operation Blue Skies, will explore the potential of artificial intelligence to alter aircraft routes in an effort to diminish the environmental impact of contrails. The experiment will take place during the winter season over a specific section of the North Atlantic, which accounts for approximately 5 percent of global contrail warming.
During the trial, AI models will be employed to pinpoint the optimal times and locations for adjustments, with the objective of minimizing the climate impact caused by persistent contrails. These trails are formed when water vapor in aircraft exhaust condenses and freezes around particles in the upper atmosphere, trapping heat and contributing to around one-third of aviation's overall climate impact.
The trial is a collaboration between the Shanwick Oceanic airspace, managed by UK's NATS, alongside Imperial College London, Cambridge University, the Met Office, and Contrails.org, a non-profit organization focused on reducing aviation's climate impact. The £5 million, 30-month project, which has received £2.65 million from the Department for Transport, is supported by Google UK, providing AI research expertise, engineering resources, and high-performance computing infrastructure.
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- Flight path changes aim to cut planes' climate-warming contrails thenationalnews.com
