As part of the European Researchers' Night of Madrid 2024, E-CONTRAIL brought intriguing discussions to the forefront of public awareness. Hosted by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), this event has shed light on the complex interplay between aviation, artificial intelligence and climate change, by blending science and art.
This year, the science outreach show addressed various aspects related to artificial intelligence, such as the legal challenges of deepfakes or their use in fields as diverse as intelligent cars, cybersecurity, aeronautics and climatology or telecommunications of the future.
During the European Researchers’ Night, attendees had the opportunity to learn directly from experts like Manuel Soler from UC3M's Department of Aerospace Engineering, and coordinator of the E-CONTRAIL project. In a show that alternates scenes from a play with scientific talks, Soler delved into the science behind this European project, making complex concepts accessible to everyone:
AI to analyze the impact of aircraft contrails on climate
Condensation trails -contrails- are linear clouds left behind by aircraft in certain atmospheric conditions. They are composed primarily of water vapor released by aircraft engines and can influence climate change. How much? That is one of the things we are investigating as part of a European scientific project, because we still need to understand under what conditions they form and what their impact is, since under certain conditions they can even lead to global cooling. In this talk you can find out how satellite data, cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques and climate science combine to understand this phenomenon. What we learn can help optimize air traffic, redirecting aircraft away from regions of the atmosphere that are particularly susceptible to contrails, for example.
E-CONTRAIL's involvement in European Researchers' Night underscores the importance of fostering dialogue between scientists and the community in order to ignite curiosity about the current European research landscape and encourage individuals to contribute to a more sustainable future.
Comments