HOW LARGE A SOURCE OF ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION?
Every day, thousands of jet aircraft fly through the Earth’s atmosphere, but scientists are still uncertain how much pollution is produced. To better understand this relatively unknown source of air pollution, researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, are measuring emissions from the engines of two NASA research jets – a < Boeing 737 and a Boeing 757. During a two-week experiment, as part of NASA's Atmospheric Effects of Aviation Project (AEAP), a NASA T-39 jet will fly behind a NASA 737. Instruments aboard the T-39 will measure various chemicals and small pollutant particles (called aerosols) emitted by the 737's engines. The T-39 data also will be used to study how the 737's engine emissions disperse in the atmosphere, and how rapidly. Jet engine emissions can often be seen in the atmosphere in the form of contrails flowing behind the aircraft. The NASA 737 also will fly over a ground-based laser system at Langley that can measure how many aerosols are emitted from
