AI to help planes avoid climate-warming 'sky graffiti'
We've all looked up and seen the white lines trailing behind aircraft in the sky. Known as contrails, these icy clouds contribute to climate change, and scientists have been trying to work out how t…
We've all looked up and seen the white lines trailing behind aircraft in the sky.
Known as contrails, these icy clouds contribute to climate change, and scientists have been trying to work out how to stop them.
Now, a £5m UK trial will test whether AI can help, by predicting where warming contrails are likely to form and getting planes to avoid those areas.
The 30-month Operation Blue Skies project brings together Google, the UK government, the Met Office, air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and academic researchers.
It will focus on the Shanwick Oceanic airspace in the eastern half of the North Atlantic corridor which accounts for approximately 5% of global contrail warming.
Contrails are made when the hot exhaust from aircraft engines meets the cold air at high altitude, creating ice crystals.
Many disappear quickly, but in particularly cold and humid conditions they can persist and spread, forming clouds which trap heat that would otherwise escape from the Earth.
Dr Paul Hodgson, Google's technical lead for Operation Blue Skies, told the BBC's Tech Life programme his five-year-old has a more colourful description for the white lines - "sky graffiti".
Read Full Story at BBC Technology →
