Contrail Reduction

Airlines use AI contrail forecasts and weather data to plan small altitude changes that avoid warming contrails.

Business impact

• contrail formation rate — American Airlines reported a 62% reduction in contrail formation rate for flights that successfully flew the avoidance plans.
• warming impact of contrails — Cathay Pacific reported roughly a 40% estimated reduction in the warming impact of contrails on flights that followed avoidance routes.
• flights following avoidance routes — Cathay Pacific reported more than 80 flights following contrail-avoidance routes in its operational trial.

Data requirements

• satellite imagery (image) — Satellite imagery is used to find and analyze contrail-forming zones.
• weather intelligence (tabular) — Weather information helps forecast where cold, humid conditions can create persistent contrails.
• flight data (tabular) — Flight data is used with satellite images to identify where aircraft have previously produced contrails.

AI methods and techniques

• forecasting — The system predicts where warming contrails are likely to form so crews can plan around them.
• machine learning — Google UK uses machine learning models to predict and help avoid warming contrails in the airspace trial.
• satellite image analysis — Satellite imagery is used to identify and verify contrail-forming zones and estimate the impact of route changes.

Industries

Real-world evidence

3 documented case studies on record.

Companies using this: Cathay Pacific, American Airlines, Google UK.