NASA Aviation Contrails Study
Field of Science Aeronautics
Citizenship Requirement: U.S. Citizens Only
Description: Universities Space Research Association (USRA) seeks a motivated student intern on aviation impact on climate change. In support of national goals for sustainable aviation, the Student Intern will support an assessment on the state-of-the-art in modeling the climate change effects of aircraft contrails, contrail cirrus, and emissions. Research includes supporting a literature review of basic understanding and fundamental modeling of formation and radiative effects of contrails and contrail cirrus from current aviation fuels. The goal is to identify potential areas of improvement necessary in current modeling that could lead to reduced uncertainties on the climate effects of contrails, contrail cirrus, and emissions. Research should focus on areas where aviation has the most impact on climate change – both shorter term and long-term effects.
This research will not focus on airborne experimental measurements; contrail or emission detection and observations; contrail or emission mitigation; or systems engineering of models.
