Abstract
When working towards regulation of supersonic aviation, a comprehensive understanding of the global climate effect of supersonic aviation is required in order to develop future regulatory issues. Such research requires a comprehensive overview of existing scientific literature having explored the climate effect of aviation. This review article provides an overview on earlier studies assessing the climate effects of supersonic aviation, comprising non-CO2 effects. An overview on the historical evaluation of research focussing on supersonic aviation and its environmental impacts is provided, followed by an overview on concepts explored and construction of emission inventories. Quantitative estimates provided for individual effects are presented and compared. Subsequently, regulatory issues related to supersonic transport are summarised. Finally, requirements for future studies, e.g., in emission scenario construction or numerical modelling of climate effects, are summarised and main conclusions discussed.
Highlights
The development of civil supersonic transport (SST) aircraft has been pursued since the late 1960s and 1970s and can be traced back to the late 1950s
One important driver for these concerns is that concepts of supersonic aviation investigated so far have in common that aircraft are operated at higher altitudes compared to conventional aviation which means that emissions are released in regions of the atmosphere that are potentially more sensitive to their impacts
nitrogen oxides (NOx) and aerosols mostly related to the type of aircraft/engine technology as well as whether aircraft will be permitted to fly at supersonic speeds over land are considered as key in the potential effect of supersonic aviation on climate
Summary
The development of civil supersonic transport (SST) aircraft has been pursued since the late 1960s and 1970s and can be traced back to the late 1950s. To measure the radiative impact of supersonic aviation, one can rely on the concept of the changes induced to the RF in the atmosphere, which drives a climate change as measured by, e.g., global mean surface temperature. RF is a measure of the perturbation of the Earth-atmosphere energy budget for the time period between 1750 and the present day. This imbalance results from changes in concentration of trace gases and particles in the atmosphere and other effects such as changed albedo and is measured in units of watts per square metre (W m−2 ) at the top of the atmosphere or at the tropopause level. The positive RF values are associated with global warming, the negative with global cooling
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
