A £5 million UK project is turning to artificial intelligence to help passenger jets dodge the climate-warming condensation trails left in their wake. Known as Operation Blue Skies, the 30-month initiative involves Google, the UK government, NATS, and the Met Office. It targets Shanwick airspace in the eastern North Atlantic, an area responsible for roughly 5% of global contrail warming.
Contrails form when jet exhaust meets freezing, humid air, trapping heat that would otherwise escape the atmosphere. Experts estimate these clouds account for up to a third of aviation’s total climate impact.
By pairing satellite imagery, flight data, and weather models, AI will predict where persistent contrails will form. Controllers can then prompt pilots to adjust their altitude by roughly 2,000 feet to avoid these atmospheric zones. Over two trial winters, 10,000 flights will test the system to prove its impact.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62em5lpvnjo
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