Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Addressing aviation turbulence not only enhances passenger comfort but also help to reduce fuel consumption and environmental impact, supporting aviation sustainability. By using ERA5 reanalysis data we explore how changing atmospheric circulation, monitored via sea level pressure trends, impacts aviation turbulence over Europe. Our results show coherent climate anomalies, with rising turbulence intensity over the UK and Northern Europe where most events involve clear air turbulence, which occurs unexpectedly and without warning, particularly at flight altitudes. We also highlight a clear seasonal patterns in moderate‐or‐greater turbulence encounters, most frequent and intense in winter, with a key role of wind shears due to the sub‐tropical jet position over Southern Mediterranean. Our approach adds to previous studies on the same topic by analyzing individual atmospheric circulation pattern changes and their effects on turbulence‐related factors. This offers insight into how climate change affecting atmospheric dynamics may contribute to increased aviation turbulence.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2024gl111618
Institutions: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, École Normale Supérieure - PSL, Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, London Mathematical Laboratory, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, École Polytechnique, The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), University of Calabria, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives
Language: English
Subfield: Aerospace Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,900
Funder: European Commission
OpenAlex ID: W4405240309