Supersonic jets' effect on ozone still hazy

Abstract

Intriguing results are springing from initial attempts to assess how a fleet of supersonic jets flying in the stratosphere might affect Earth's protective ozone layer. For example, atmospheric modelers find in the first approximation that nitrogen oxide emissions from supersonic aircraft would destroy ozone. But if certain reactions on aerosols are included in the models, the impact is just the opposite—that is, ozone increases rather than decreases. Clearly there are some fundamental questions we don't understand, says Michael J. Prather, atmospheric scientist with the National Aeronautics & Space Administration's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City and manager of the agency's research program on the atmospheric effects of stratospheric aircraft. How important are heterogeneous reactions? What are the key measurements we need? NASA is spending $284 million over six years to try to answer those questions and many others about second-generation supersonic planes dubbed high-speed civil...