Über Bedingungen zur Bildung von Kondensstreifen aus Flugzeugabgasen
Abstract
The formation of contrails (condensation trails) from aircraft exhaust has been investigated since 1919. Related studies are reviewed. The thermodynamical foundation of the Appleman threshold criterion for contrail formation has been first described by Schmidt in 1940. The Schmidt/Appleman criterion is reexamined, including the effects of the conversion of part of the combustion heat into kinetic energy of the motions in the wake of the aircraft causing higher threshold temperatures for contrail formation than without this conversion. The criterion is also derived including the kinetic energy of the jet plumes but this effect changes the threshold temperature only a little. The analysis is applied for a measured test case with the so-called ATTAS aircraft and for typical modern wide-body aircraft of type B747. If the aircraft would burn liquid hydrogen (liquid methane) instead of kerosene fuel, contrails would appear at typically 10 K (4.5 K) higher ambient temperatures and would be geometrically thicker and longer. However, this does not necessarily mean that such alternative fuels have a stronger impact on climate because such fuels will cause less and larger particles with smaller optical thickness and faster sedimentation.
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On 22 September and 7 October 2015 during ECLIF1, temperatures at cruise altitudes were 5-9 °C below the Schmidt-Appleman temperature.
“On 22 September and 7 October 2015 during ECLIF1, temperatures at cruise altitudes were 5 -9 °C below the Schmidt-Appleman temperature (SAT 33 ), which is the threshold temperature below which contrails can thermodynamically occur.”
From Cleaner burning aviation fuels can reduce contrail cloudiness (2021) · cites this paper as [33]
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“Citations for this phenomenon were diverse, with the most common reference being again Schumann’s ‘On conditions’ (Schumann1996) and Schumann’s ‘Formation, properties, and climate effects of contrails’ (Schumann 2005), both cited by6%of experts.”
BackgroundSensitivity of contrail cirrus radiative forcing to air traffic scheduling
Newinger, C., & Burkhardt, U. (2012) · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/2011jd016736 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
- Authors
- Schumann, U.
- Corresponding author
- Schumann, Ulrich
- ORCID
- Schumann, Ulrich
- Venue
- Meteorologische Zeitschrift
- Publisher
- Schweizerbart
- Published
- 1996-03-05
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 4-23
- ISSN
- 0941-2948 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2737259124
- Cited by
- 476
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 41 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 19.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Meteorologische Zeitschrift (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Advanced Aircraft Design and Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
- Keywords
- contrail formation, aircraft exhaust, thermodynamic conditions, wide-body aircraft, liquid hydrogen fuel, alternative aviation fuels, aviation climate impact, condensation trails
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