Do contrails significantly reduce daily temperature range?

One of the most visible anthropogenic phenomena in the atmosphere is the occurrence of contrails. The direct effects of contrails on surface temperature are investigated on the basis of the data sets for the cloud cover and surface temperature over the conterminous United States for the period 1971–...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inGeophysical research letters Vol. 35; no. 23
Main Authors Hong, Gang, Yang, Ping, Minnis, Patrick, Hu, Yong X., North, Gerald
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington, DC Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.2008
American Geophysical Union
Subjects
cloud
contrail
daily temperature range
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
United States
USA
atmosphere
Cloudiness
Surface temperature
Condensation trail
North America
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Summary:One of the most visible anthropogenic phenomena in the atmosphere is the occurrence of contrails. The direct effects of contrails on surface temperature are investigated on the basis of the data sets for the cloud cover and surface temperature over the conterminous United States for the period 1971–2001. It is shown that the increase of the average daily temperature range (DTR) over the United States during the three‐day grounding period of 11–14 September 2001 cannot be attributed to the absence of contrails, a subject was debated in several previous studies. The present analysis suggests that the DTR is attributed to the change of low cloudiness.
Bibliography:ArticleID:2008GL036108
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Tab-delimited Table 1.
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ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/2008GL036108