Present activities and future plan

for CONTRAIL projectT. Machida1, H. Matsueda2, Y. Sawa2, Y. Niwa2, T. Umezawa1 and K. Tsuboi2

1. National Institute for Environmental Studies, 2. Meteorological Research Institute

3. History of CONTRAIL project

1. Observation Devices

MSE: Manual air Sampling Equipment

2. Flight routes and coverage CME: More than 17,000 observation

flights have been carried out and more than 27,000 vertical profiles of CO2 have been obtained from 2005 to 2017. (detailed distribution can be seen in poster #185, Umezawa et al. and long-term trends in poster #90, Sawa et al.)

ASE or MSE between Sydney (SYD), Australia and Narita (NRT), Japan.

ASE or MSE between Paris (CDG), France/ Moscow (DME), Russia and Haneda(HND)/ NRT, Japan.

ASE between Bangkok (BKK), Thailand and HND/ NRT.

2003/Sep. Development of CME and ASE

2005/Mar. Environmental Test for CME and ASE

2005/Oct. Modifying the first 747-400 (JA8917)

2005/Nov.Issuing STC by FAA and JCAB for CME and ASE on 747-400

First CME flight

2005/Dec. First ASE flight on NRT-SYD

2006/Feb. Modifying the second 747-400 (JA8921)

2006/Mar. Modifying the first 777-200ER (JA705J)

Issuing STC by FAA and JCAB for CME on 777-200ER

2006/Nov.Modifying the 2nd and 3rd 777-200ER (JA707J, JA703J)

2010/Oct.All 747-400s are retired (only three 777-200ER are remained.)

2011/Mar.Issuing STC by FAA and JCAB for ASE on 777-200ER

2011/Apr. ASE flight by 777-200ER on NRT-SYD

2012/Apr. ASE flight by 777-200ER on HND-CDG

2012/Jul. Launching logo-painted ship (JA707J)

2012/Aug.Modifying the 4th and 5th 777-200ER (JA708J, JA709J)

2012/Mar. Modifying the 6th 777-200ER (JA702J)

2013/Aug.Modifying the 7th and 8th 777-200ER (JA710J, JA711J)

2013/Nov. Launching 2nd logo-painted ship (JA705J)

2014/Jan. Modifying JA709J for installing ASE

2014/Apr. MSE flight by 777-300ER on HND-CDG

2014/Dec. EcoDemonstrator flight by Boeing's 787-8

2014/Dec. MSE flight by 777-200ER on NRT-SYD

2015/Feb. Modifying the first 777-300ER (JA734J)

Issuing STC by FAA and JCAB for CME on 777-300ER

2015/Nov. ASE flight over Singapore (SIN)

2016/Feb. Modifying the 2nd 777-300ER (JA733J)

2017/Feb. ASE flight by 777-200ER on NRT-BKK

A

A

B

B

C

E

C E

D

(D) Time series of greenhouse

gases in the upper troposphere

and the lower stratosphere

observed by ASE or MSE on

CDG-HND or DME-NRT routes.

Monthly means and standard

deviations for CO2, CH4, N2O,

and SF6. The colors represent

the mole fractions observed at

every 12.5 K bin in potential

temperature from the local

tropopause along the flight route

over the Eurasian continent.

(Sawa et al., GRL, 2015) (refer

poster #81, Fujita et al.)

F

G F

(G) Typical flight routes for

JAL’s 777-200ER (red) and

777-300ER (blue and green)

in 2015. The observation area

had been widely extended

again by 777-300ER.

H

I

(H) Influences of biomass burning over Singapore (SIN)

Vertical CO2 profiles by CME frequently showed high values in lower altitudes in September 2015

(see poster #68, Niwa et al.), whereas those in 2014 were almost constant. We conducted vertical

sampling using ASE over SIN on November 16, 2015. The correlations of CO2/CO and CO/CH4

indicated that biomass burnings around SIN had been less active in November 2015.

2015/11/16

(I) ASE sampling has been conducted over Bangkok (BKK) since February 2017 to capture the

influences of natural and anthropogenic emissions for CO2 and other trace gases around there.

4. Future plan for CONTRAIL4-1) For simultaneous in-situ CO2 and CH4 observation onboard the

aircraft, prototype of MME (Multi-species gas Measuring Equipment)

based on LGR portable analyzer was constructed and will be tested.

4-2) To prepare the replacement of aircraft type in the next

generation, we have been studying to modify Boring 787 aircraft to

install CME and ASE. We are planning to finish the design and to

modify JAL’s 787 in these 3-4 years.

5. Accessibility of the data➢Visit CONTRAIL WEB (http://www.cger.nies.go.jp/contrail/)

➢Flask CO2 and CH4 data over the western Pacific were submitted to WDCGG

➢Some part of CME data were submitted to ObsPack

➢Contact PIs for recent data, other flask data, or details

AcknowledgementsWe would like to acknowledge the support of many engineers in the Japan Airlines and JAMCO Tokyo. The CONTRAIL project is supported by

Environment Research and Technology Development Fund / Global Environment Research Account for National Institutes of the Ministry of the

Environment in Japan. Flask sampling over the Eurasian continent is conducted in “Studies on greenhouse gas cycles in the Arctic and their

responses to climate change” under the GRENE Arctic Climate Change Research Project.