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| Keywords: Aircraft Contrails, Image of the Day DVIDS850089.jpg en NASA scientists have found that cirrus clouds formed by contrails from aircraft engine exhaust are capable of increasing average surface temperatures enough to account for a warming trend in the United States that occurred between 1975 and 1994 According to Patrick Minnis a senior research scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton Va there has been a one percent per decade increase in cirrus cloud cover over the United States likely due to air traffic Cirrus clouds exert a warming influence on the surface by allowing most of the Sun's rays to pass through but then trapping some of the resulting heat emitted by the surface and lower atmosphere Using a general circulation model Minnis estimates that cirrus clouds from contrails increased the temperatures of the lower atmosphere by anywhere from 0 36 to 0 54°F per decade Minnis's results show good agreement with weather service data which reveal that the temperature of the surface and lower atmosphere rose by almost 0 5°F per decade between 1975 and 1994 This enhanced infrared image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer MODIS aboard NASA's terra nasa gov Terra satellite shows widespread contrails over the southeastern United States during the morning of January 29 2004 Such satellite data are critical for studying the effects of contrails The crisscrossing white lines are contrails that form from planes flying in different directions at different altitudes Each contrail spreads and moves with the wind Contrails often form over large areas during winter and spring For information about why NASA studies contrails read www nasa gov/home/hqnews/2004/apr/HQ_04140_clouds_climate html Clouds Caused By Aircraft Exhaust May Warm The U S Climate NASA Identifier ge_04435 2011-07-01 Glenn Research Center https //www dvidshub net/image/850089 850089 2013-02-08 14 04 WASHINGTON D C US PD-USGov Langley Research Center Images from DoD uploaded by Fæ | ||||
