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UK trial to use AI to reroute flights away from warming contrails
The 30-month Operation Blue Skies project will cover Shanwick Oceanic airspace, which accounts for about 5% of global contrail warming.
BBC Business reports that a UK trial will test whether artificial intelligence can help aircraft avoid “warming contrails,” aiming to reduce the climate impact of condensation trails that can persist and spread at high altitude.
The 30-month Operation Blue Skies effort, funded at about £5 million, will focus on Shanwick Oceanic airspace in the eastern half of the North Atlantic corridor, an area that makes up approximately 5% of global contrail warming.
The program brings together Google, the UK government, the Met Office, National Air Traffic Services, and researchers at the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London to predict where warming contrails are likely to form.
Scientists say contrails are created when hot jet exhaust meets cold air, producing ice crystals, and when conditions are cold and humid the resulting clouds can trap heat. Google’s technical lead Dr Paul Hodgson told the BBC that contrail warming is responsible for something like a third of all aviation climate warming, with uncertainty around the exact figure.
The forecast system will combine satellite images and flight data with weather patterns, then deliver guidance to air traffic controllers to direct pilots away from the highest-risk areas. The trial is also running amid UK government support for airport expansion, raising questions about whether technology can offset growing demand for flying.