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An Examination Of The Hanson Contrail Forecast Algorithm Under Low Relative Humidity Conditions, Robert P. Asbury Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Accurate forecasts of contrail occurrence are essential to military aircrews. Although classical forecast methods have been reasonably successful predicting contrails, there is need for improvement at low ambient relative humidity. This thesis examines the performance of the Hanson method, which was developed to provide better contrail forecasts under drier atmospheric conditions. As a secondary objective, the forecast methods of Schumann and Hanson are compared to the algorithm currently in use by the Air Force Global Weather Central. Data used to validate the algorithms were collected at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH and Edwards AFB, CA. Theoretical contrail forecasts were made for each …