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Contrails
Thu Oct 16, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton, and this is The Weather Notebook. Contrailsthose cirrus cloud-like
stripes airplanes leave in the skyvary with several atmospheric conditions. As Alaskan
Correspondent Amy Mayer reports, the Defense Department would like to know how to minimize
them.
That's an Air Force F-16 fighter jet. As it takes off from Eielson Air Force Base near
Fairbanks, Alaska, it leaves barely a mark on the clear blue sky. That's how the Defense
Department likes it. And it's funding University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Martha Shulski
to understand more about contrails.
MS: They have a military interest in determining what conditions are conducive to contrails so
they can avoid that in terms of aircraft detection.
Shulski's group has had some success evaluating the humidity, temperature and altitude that
produce the most contrails. What's tougher is figuring out whether different fuel compositions
might help diminish the stripes.
MS: That's a little more difficult because we have temperature and humidity information
readily available, but that, the composition of the emissions, is a little more difficult to
identify.
Stealth military operations aside, the Alaska Climate Research Center, the group Shulski
works with, has a civilian mission for its contrail studies.
MS: It's just to further the understanding of contrails and how they affect global
climate.
Shulski says contrails can increase how much radiation the clouds reflect back to the
earththat's called "back radiation." More of it means higher ground temperatures. It's not a
huge problem yet, but it's a concern under crowded skies.
The Weather Notebook is produced with funding from The National Science Foundation, and
Subaru, Driven By What's Inside.
Today's Links
More on Contrails
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Flagstaff/science/contrail.htm
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