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Cited by 275Advanced Aircraft Design and TechnologiesMaritime Transport Emissions and EfficiencyVehicle emissions and performance

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Analysis of emission data from global commercial aviation: 2004 and 2006

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Wilkerson, J. T., Jacobson, M. Z., Malwitz, A., Balasubramanian, S., Wayson, R., Fleming, G., Naiman, A. D., Lele, S. K.·2010·Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
DOI 10.5194/acp-10-6391-2010

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Abstract

Abstract. The global commercial aircraft fleet in 2006 flew 31.26 million flights, burned 188.20 million metric tons of fuel, and covered 38.68 billion kilometers. This activity emitted substantial amounts of fossil-fuel combustion products within the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere that affect atmospheric composition and climate. The emissions products, such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, sulfur compounds, and particulate matter, are not emitted uniformly over the Earth, so understanding the temporal and spatial distributions is important for modeling aviation's climate impacts. Global commercial aircraft emission data for 2004 and 2006, provided by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, were computed using the Federal Aviation Administration's Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT). Continuous improvement in methodologies, including changes in AEDT's horizontal track methodologies, and an increase in availability of data make some differences between the 2004 and 2006 inventories incomparable. Furthermore, the 2004 inventory contained a significant over-count due to an imperfect data merge and daylight savings error. As a result, the 2006 emissions inventory is considered more representative of actual flight activity. Here, we analyze both 2004 and 2006 emissions, focusing on the latter, and provide corrected totals for 2004. Analysis of 2006 flight data shows that 92.5% of fuel was burned in the Northern Hemisphere, 69.0% between 30N and 60N latitudes, and 74.6% was burned above 7 km. This activity led to 162.25 Tg of carbon from CO2 emitted globally in 2006, more than half over three regions: the United States (25.5%), Europe (14.6), and East Asia (11.1). Despite receiving less than one percent of global emissions, the Arctic receives a uniformly dispersed concentration of emissions with 95.2% released at altitude where they have longer residence time than surface emissions. Finally, 85.2% of all flights by number in 2006 were short-haul missions, yet those flights were responsible for only 39.7% of total carbon from CO2. The following is a summary of these data which illustrates the global and regional aviation emissions footprints for 2004 and 2006, and provides temporal and spatial distribution statistics.

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Crossref · 10.5194/acp-10-6391-2010

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Figures

Fig. 1 Regions of the world defined by one of two methods: (a) IPCC Regions based on the IMAGE model (RIVA); (b) Bounding Box Regions identifying regions of principal activity, including the US, Europe, East Asia, Arctic, and North Atlantic and North Pacific Flight Corridors.
Fig. 1 Regions of the world defined by one of two methods: (a) IPCC Regions based on the IMAGE model (RIVA); (b) Bounding Box Regions identifying regions of principal activity, including the US, Europe, East Asia, Arctic, and North Atlantic and North Pacific Flight Corridors.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 2 Spatial distribution of fuel burned in (a) 2004 (uncorrected) and (b) 2006. Global distributions are similar between the two years: nearly all of the emissions occurred in the Northern Hemisphere and about three out of every four grams of fuel was burned in the northern mid-latitudes. Visual differences between the two plots are largely an artifact of the different horizontal track estimation methods used between the two years. The 'airways track' method used in 2006 is considered a more accurate representation of actual flight tracks.
Fig. 2 Spatial distribution of fuel burned in (a) 2004 (uncorrected) and (b) 2006. Global distributions are similar between the two years: nearly all of the emissions occurred in the Northern Hemisphere and about three out of every four grams of fuel was burned in the northern mid-latitudes. Visual differences between the two plots are largely an artifact of the different horizontal track estimation methods used between the two years. The 'airways track' method used in 2006 is considered a more accurate representation of actual flight tracks.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 3 Fuel burn estimates by year from recent studies: TRADEOFF, FAST, AERO2K, SAGE 1.5 compared with current AEDT results.
Fig. 3 Fuel burn estimates by year from recent studies: TRADEOFF, FAST, AERO2K, SAGE 1.5 compared with current AEDT results.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 4 Annual 2004 (uncorrected) and 2006 CO 2 -C emissions. (a) total daily emissions, (b) total emissions per day of the week, (c) average contributions for each hour of the day.
Fig. 4 Annual 2004 (uncorrected) and 2006 CO 2 -C emissions. (a) total daily emissions, (b) total emissions per day of the week, (c) average contributions for each hour of the day.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 5 Composite of hourly column CO 2 -C emissions through the daily cycle on 25 August, 2006. Time is measured relative to UTC. Activity at 00:00-UTC shows evening traffic in Asia. As time progresses, morning rush hours in Europe, then the United States are evident. Toward the end of the day in the US, activity moves over the Pacific toward Asia and redeye flights back to Europe to start the cycle over again.
Fig. 5 Composite of hourly column CO 2 -C emissions through the daily cycle on 25 August, 2006. Time is measured relative to UTC. Activity at 00:00-UTC shows evening traffic in Asia. As time progresses, morning rush hours in Europe, then the United States are evident. Toward the end of the day in the US, activity moves over the Pacific toward Asia and redeye flights back to Europe to start the cycle over again.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 6 Percent distribution of all flights for 2006. There are some suspect flights in the data that cover 6-10 thousand km in only a few hours, as well as those that take many hours to cover relatively short distances; however these represent an extremely small fraction of the data.
Fig. 6 Percent distribution of all flights for 2006. There are some suspect flights in the data that cover 6-10 thousand km in only a few hours, as well as those that take many hours to cover relatively short distances; however these represent an extremely small fraction of the data.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 7 Spatial distribution of carbon emissions in CO 2 . (a) Global column total; (b) Latitude profile; (c) Longitude profile.
Fig. 7 Spatial distribution of carbon emissions in CO 2 . (a) Global column total; (b) Latitude profile; (c) Longitude profile.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 8 Altitude profile of and altitude-latitude zonal plot of 2006 annual CO 2 -C emissions.
Fig. 8 Altitude profile of and altitude-latitude zonal plot of 2006 annual CO 2 -C emissions.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 9 Arctic aircraft CO 2 -C emissions per unit area for (a) 2004 (uncorrected) and (b) 2006.
Fig. 9 Arctic aircraft CO 2 -C emissions per unit area for (a) 2004 (uncorrected) and (b) 2006.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 10 Global 2006 column-integrated emissions of other species: (a) NOx-as-NO2 , (b) SOx, (c) Black carbon.
Fig. 10 Global 2006 column-integrated emissions of other species: (a) NOx-as-NO2 , (b) SOx, (c) Black carbon.CC-BY · From the PDF

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Citations

Cites

Show all 24 references

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Kim, B. Y., Fleming, G. G., Balasubramanian, S., Malwitz, A., Lee, J. J., Ruggiero, J., Waitz, I. A., Klima, K., Locke, M., Holsclaw, C. A., Morales, A., McQueen, E., and Gillette, W.: System for assessing Aviation's Global Emissions (SAGE) Version 1.5: System Revision History, FAA, Ed., Office of Environment and Energy, 21, 2005a.
  2. MOCA, India Ministry of Civil Aviation; 2006–07 Annual Report: http://civilaviation.nic.in/reports/an_rep0607eng/Chapter-1.pdf (last access: 18 July 2009), 2007.
  3. OAG: Airlines Offer Record Number Of Seats In July, available online at: http://www.oag.com/oag/website/com/en/Press+Room/Press+Releases+2007/Airlines+Offer+Record+Number+Of+Seats+In+July, (last access: 27 May 2010), 2007.

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Metadata

Authors
Wilkerson, J. T., Jacobson, M. Z., Malwitz, A., Balasubramanian, S., Wayson, R., Fleming, G., Naiman, A. D., & Lele, S. K.
Affiliations
  • Stanford University (US)
  • Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (US)
ORCID
Venue
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
Published
2010-07-14
Volume
10
Issue
13
Pages
6391-6408
ISSN
  • 1680-7316 (ISSN-L)
  • 1680-7324
DOI
10.5194/acp-10-6391-2010
OpenAlex
W2097270364
Cited by
275
References
24
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 12
FWCI
14.69
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Atmospheric chemistry and physics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Federal Aviation Administration
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › 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, commercial aircraft, CO2 emissions, aviation climate impact, emission inventory, upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, short-haul flights, fuel consumption, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur compounds, particulate matter, spatial distribution of emissions, Aviation Environmental Design Tool

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