Webinar Series:

Contrails in the climate system – Advancing climate understanding through AI and observation

Together with partners including the German Weather Service (DWD), Thales cortAIx, and LATMOS, Reuniwatt has hosted two webinars exploring the outcomes of the CONTRAILS project. This series highlights how advanced observation systems and artificial intelligence are transforming the detection, analysis, and prediction of contrails and their impact on climate.
The first session focuses on enhancing numerical weather prediction (NWP) through improved cloud observation and AI-driven data assimilation. The second session broadens the perspective, presenting the overall scientific insights of the CONTRAILS project and its role within the wider European research landscape on aviation-induced cloudiness.

Below, you can watch both webinars according to your area of interest.

Part 1

Contrails in the climate system – enhancing NWP through cloud observation and AI

This webinar presents contrails observation using all-sky imagers by Reuniwatt, as well as AI tools that have been developed to detect contrails in camera and satellite images, enabling the identification of contrail clusters. These clusters can be used to evaluate the representation of ice-supersaturated regions in the NWP model. Our speakers are happy to present the remarkable progress the CONTRAILS project has achieved in the identification, representation, and data assimilation of contrails and high cirrus clouds.

Topics discussed

  • Ground-based all-sky camera observations in combination with new satellite-based cloud observations
  • Trustworthy AI methods and physical models to improve the monitoring and characterisation of contrails
  • Get a better understanding of the entire physical process underlying the formation of contrails
  • Learn about the results of CONTRAILS and augmenting NWP models accordingly

Moderator: Teodora Petrisor, Senior Research Engineer AI @Thales

Speakers:
Prof. Roland Potthast, Head of NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction) @DWD
Stefanie Hollborn, Head of Observation Modelling and Verification NWP @DWD
Sarah Vadillo-Quesada, Business Developer @Reuniwatt

Part 2

CONTRAILS, climate, and AI-driven observation: From scientific insights to future applications

This webinar concludes the CONTRAILS project by presenting its key scientific outcomes and positioning them within the broader European research landscape on aviation-induced cloudiness. Bringing together experts from Reuniwatt, Thales, and LATMOS, the session explores how advanced observation systems and AI-driven analysis methods contribute to a deeper understanding of contrail formation, persistence, and climate impact.

You will discover how multiple observation technologies—including all-sky imagers, lidar measurements, and satellite data—are combined to capture contrail dynamics and radiative effects. The webinar also highlights recent advances in AI, such as geometric deep learning and physics-informed approaches, enabling more robust detection, clustering, and prediction of contrail behaviour. These developments support the integration of observations with physical models and open new perspectives for climate assessment and aviation applications.

Topics discussed

  • Current challenges in understanding contrails in the climate system
  • Ground-based all-sky camera observations in combination with new satellite-based cloud observations
  • Advances in observation and analysis techniques for contrails using AI methods
  • Key scientific outcomes of the CONTRAILS project

Moderator: Teodora Petrisor, Senior Research Engineer AI @Thales

Speakers:
Olivier Liandrat, Sky Imaging Team Lead @Reuniwatt
Solène Blasco-Lopez, Research Engineer AI & Computer Vision @Thales
Davide Di Giusto, Research Engineer Software @Thales
Prof. Philippe Keckhut, Lecturer at UVSQ / Director of the Île-de-France Space Academy project @LATMOS