In February 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Fourth Assessment Report. The report indicates that most of the increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the increase in manmade greenhouse gas concentrations, and that global warming is having a serious impact on the global environment. This assessment has reminded us that the technological and economic progress that humans have achieved has come at the expense of the global environment. The jet aircraft is an iconic invention of the 20th century. The amount of CO2 emitted by a Boeing 777-300 flying 500 people from Narita to Sapporo is 25,400 kilograms, which is equivalent to the amount of emissions produced by the average household over 1,700 days. Since airlines, by their nature, impact the global environment, the JAL Group has made it one of its corporate missions to undertake various initiatives to promote environmental protection. “Aircraft cross the globe day and night, enjoying a continuous view of the earth,” explains Captain Kazuya Matsuda of the Flight Crew Department. At JAL, we witness the planet with our own eyes, and that’s why JAL has the chance to introduce special initiatives.

Kazuya Matsuda
Captain, Flight Crew Department
Japan Airlines International Co., Ltd. The graph in the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report shows a remarkable increase in greenhouse gases in recent years. In fact, the amount of atmospheric measurement data presented in the graph has nearly tripled since the Third Assessment Report in 2001. Nevertheless, there is still not enough data to create a truly accurate picture.

The JAL Group has long been assisting efforts to understand the causes of global warming. Since 1993, we have been gathering air samples from the upper atmosphere on regular flights between Japan and Australia, and supplying them to research institutions to measure atmospheric components and concentrations of greenhouse gases such as CO2, methane, and carbon monoxide. In 2003, JAL joined Japan’s National Institute for Environmental Studies in a project involving collaboration between industry, academia and government to measure levels of nitrous oxide, hydrogen, and sulfur hexafluoride in the atmosphere. Then in November 2005, continuous CO2-measuring equipment was installed in JAL aircraft to collect, analyze and record atmospheric samples during flight. JAL was the first civilian airline in the world to undertake such an initiative.

Continuous CO2-measuring equipment Hajime Ikeda of the Engineering and Maintenance Division, who handles the atmospheric measurements, described the technology: “Since passenger aircraft are designed with the highest priority placed on safety, the installation of devices not related to flight must go through a strict safety inspection by the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau. JAL has been involved with this device since the development stage. It is about the size of a large suitcase and weighs around 20 kilograms. It has been approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.”

The collection of air samples by JAL airliners is no longer conducted just between Australia and Japan. The number of routes has steadily increased, and collection now takes place almost worldwide, with the exception of Africa and South America.

“There is a lack of CO2 measurement data worldwide, especially from airliner altitudes,” says Yumiko Nagamine of the Environmental Affairs Department. “The JAL Group will continue to provide atmospheric data, as it is helping scientists to understand the mechanisms of global warming. Going forward, we would like to encourage other airlines to do the same to cover measurements where we don’t fly as often.”
More information on atmospheric observations

Pilots Assist Research through Wildfire Sightings
Development of Wildfire Detection Algorithms
Koji Nakau, Ph.D. (Social Engineering)
Associate Senior Researcher, Earth Observation Research Center (EORC)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Wildfires are usually extinguished within several days in Japan. In the sparsely populated arctic region, however, they can be hard to find. Since the region becomes extremely dry, wildfires can last as long as several months, and the lack of roads makes it difficult to put them out. While human activity produces 26 billion tons of CO2 annually, wildfires are estimated to create 6.2 to 15 billion tons of CO2 emissions (IPCC Fourth Assessment Report). So the impact of wildfires on climate change cannot be ignored.
At JAXA, we are developing algorithms for the early detection of wildfires in order to help prevent fires and slow climate change. However, since it is difficult to accurately spot fire outbreaks using satellite images, we are striving to improve the accuracy of our data by using airborne sighting information as a cross-reference. By providing data from specific routes over many years, the JAL Group has been a great help to our research here at JAXA. There have been frequent outbreaks of major wildfires in the forests of Siberia and Alaska in recent years. This is a serious problem, as it reduces the forest’s ability to absorb CO2. Since not only trees, but also the underbrush including shrubs, fallen leaves and moss are burned, the fires cause the release of carbon that has accumulated over many years. In addition to the release of CO2 during combustion, the resulting blackened land causes the ground to warm, and the underlying permafrost to thaw. This raises concerns that large volumes of methane—a much more powerful greenhouse gas—could be released into the atmosphere.

To minimize the impact of wildfires, it is essential that the fires be detected while they are still small in scale, projections of their course made, and effective firefighting conducted. A research team headed by Professor Masami Fukuda of the International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska, is working to detect these kinds of wildfires. However, wildfire spotting using satellite images sometimes results in errors.

In response to a request from the research team, the JAL Group began to report wildfires during the summer when they tend to increase. In the beginning, if a pilot on a JAL flight between Narita and Europe spotted a wildfire over Siberia, he or she reported it to Hokkaido University via the JAL Operation Control Center. Since fiscal 2007, the information has been reported to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The observations by pilots contribute to improvement of wildfire detection accuracy.

Yumiko Nagamine explained the initiative: “Since the highest priority of pilots is to ensure safe navigation, they are not required to look for wildfires. Nevertheless, we let them know about the importance of this effort, and encourage them to report any wildfires they happen to notice during a flight.”

Since 2007, the areas of aerial observation have been expanded from Siberia to encompass Alaska and the rest of the arctic, as well as Kalimantan in Indonesia. In that year a total of 172 sightings were reported: the highest to date.

Captain Matsuda, who flies Boeing 747-400s, offered his perspective: “I have been flying over Siberia for 14 years now. It used to be a route with extremely good visibility and few clouds. In the last few years in the summer, however, we have seen huge cumulonimbus clouds like those found near the equator. I feel that this is one impact of global warming. I am glad to think that our observations may be helping in the effort to protect forests in Siberia.”
More information on spotting Siberian wildfires