Global impacts of aircraft emissions on air quality and nitrogen deposition

Global impacts of aircraft emissions on air quality and nitrogen deposition

Domingos de Azevedo Quadros, F. (TU Delft Aircraft Noise and Climate Effects)

Snellen, M. (promotor)
Dedoussi, I.C. (copromotor)

Delft University of Technology

2024-01-17

Global passenger air traffic has doubled in the 13 years prior to 2019, and is expected to double again over the next 20 years or so. Growing demand for aviation is met by a corresponding increase in jet fuel being burned by aircraft, releasing multiple pollutants into the atmosphere. Besides disturbing the Earth’s radiative balance, these emissions also lead to excessive deposition of reactive nitrogen, and to a degradation of air quality. Anthropogenic nitrogen deposition damages vulnerable ecosystems, while degraded air quality is associated with increases in human mortality rates. These last two environmental impacts can be very localized, but, owing to the high altitude of emissions, they also occur over intercontinental distances. This thesis aims to evaluate the magnitude of air quality and nitrogen deposition due to emissions from civil fixed-wing aircraft at a global scale, and how these impacts might change in the coming decades.

Aviation
Air quality
Air pollution
Aircraft emissions
Nitrogen deposition
Intercontinental pollution
Public health
Atmospheric chemical transport model

https://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:b54561bd-1141-429f-83e3-a94b966c7a07

Institutional Repository

doctoral thesis

© 2024 F. Domingos de Azevedo Quadros