First Direct Sulfuric Acid Detection in the Exhaust Plume of a Jet Aircraft in Flight

Abstract

Sulfuric acid (SA) was for the first time directly detected in the exhaust plume of a jet aircraft in flight. The measurements were made by a novel aircraft-based VACA (Volatile Aerosol Component Analyzer) instrument of MPI-K Heidelberg while the research aircraft Falcon was chasing another research aircraft ATTAS. The VACA measures the total SA in the gas and in volatile submicron aerosol particles. During the chase the engines of the ATTAS alternatively burned sulfur-poor and sulfur-rich fuel. In the sulfur-rich plume very marked enhancements of total SA were observed of up to 1300 pptv which were closely correlated with ΔCO2 and ΔT and were far above the local ambient atmospheric background-level of typically 15-50 pptv. Our observations indicate a lower limit for the efficiency ɛ for fuel-sulfur conversion to SA of 0.34 %.