Global Civil Aviation Emissions Estimates for 2017–2020 Using ADS-B Data
Open accessAbstract
Aviation is a growing source of atmospheric emissions impacting the Earth’s climate and air quality. Comprehensive assessments of the environmental impact of this industry require up-to-date, spatially resolved, and speciated emissions inventories. We develop and evaluate the first such estimate of global emissions from aircraft operations for the years 2017–2020. Aircraft activity data, based on flights registered by networks of aircraft Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) telemetry receivers, are used together with the Base of Aircraft Data (BADA) 3.15 aircraft performance model and the International Civil Aviation Organization Engine Emissions Databank to estimate spatially resolved fuel burn and emissions of , , , , CO, unburnt hydrocarbons (HC), and nonvolatile particulate matter (nvPM). We calculate that 937 Tg of and 4.62 Tg of were emitted by aircraft in 2019, and quantify the evolution of the fleet average emission indices over time. Owing to impacts from COVID-19, we estimate a 48% lower fuel burn, resulting in 463 Tg less and 2.29 Tg less emitted in 2020 than what would be otherwise expected. We conclude that ADS-B is a viable source of data to generate global emissions estimates in a timely and transparent manner for monitoring and assessing aviation’s atmospheric impacts.
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Global commercial aviation released between 892 and 936 Mt of carbon dioxide in 2019.
“Global commercial aviation released between 892 and 936 Mt of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in 2019”
From Large carbon dioxide emissions avoidance potential in improved commercial air transport efficiency (2026) · cites this paper as [2]
The Conclusions (p. 10) estimate 937 Mt of CO₂ from global civil aircraft operations in 2019, supporting the year, pollutant, and approximate magnitude. They do not give the claimed 892–936 Mt range, and the estimate covers civil aviation rather than commercial aviation alone. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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References 62 · Cited by 72
Research works printed but not linked: 9
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- Authors
- Quadros, F. D. A., Snellen, M., Sun, J., & Dedoussi, I. C.
- Affiliations
- Delft University of Technology (NL)
- Venue
- Journal of Aircraft
- Published
- 2022-11
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1394-1405
- ISSN
- 0021-8669 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-3868
- OpenAlex
- W4225269012
- Semantic Scholar
- 714cfba30f2faefac44c837142c6fe31c909895a
- Cited by
- 72
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 6
- FWCI
- 5.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Aircraft (publishedVersion)
- Research Repository (Delft University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (18174)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Advanced Aircraft Design and Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Maritime Transport Emissions and Efficiency
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Vehicle emissions and performance
- Keywords
- aviation emissions, aircraft fuel burn, CO2 emissions, NOx emissions, particulate emissions, unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, aircraft performance modeling, emission indices, COVID-19 impact on aviation, aviation climate impact
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