Physics Commons^™

Potential Impact Of Subsonic And Supersonic Aircraft Exhaust On Water Vapor In The Lower Stratosphere Assessed Via A Trajectory Model, Gary A. Morris, Joan A. Rosenfield, Mark R. Schoeberl, Charles A. Jackman

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We employ a trajectory model to assess the impact on the stratosphere of water vapor present in the exhaust of subsonic and a proposed fleet of supersonic aircraft. Air parcels into which water vapor from aircraft exhaust has been injected are run through a 6-year simulation in the trajectory model using meteorological data from the UKMO analyses with emissions dictated by the standard 2015 emissions scenario. For the subsonic aircraft, our results suggest maximum enhancements of ~150 ppbv just above the Northern Hemisphere tropopause and of much less than 50 ppbv in most other regions. Inserting the perturbed water vapor …