Jet Streams – how much important they are for Flight travel? Image Courtesy – Blueskies Meteorology
You may have some questions in your mind, like: What are Jet streams? What is the importance of them for flight operations?
First of all, we should have a clear idea about Jet streams
They are rapidly moving serpentine air currents, or you can say air layers that exist in the atmospheres of some planets. Our Earth has a similar kind of it located near the altitude of the tropopause.
The path usually consists of twisty shapes. It can be of any form – they may start or stop, they can be split into many parts, or they may be merged into one stream, or can flow in various directions.
The strongest of them are the polar jets that are situated above 30,000 ft to 39,000 ft above sea level. Other streams are there, which are called subtropical jet streams – situated around 33,000 ft to 52,000 ft above sea level. Northern and southern hemispheres have polar and subtropical jet streams also. The northern hemisphere stream flows above the middle to northern latitudes of Europe, North America, Asia and intersecting oceans, while the southern hemisphere stream mostly covers Antarctica throughout the year.
Read: Ice melting in Antarctica can cause rise in sea levels
Other jet streams are also there in the atmosphere of the Earth. Generally, it is created where dry air collides with humid air at high altitudes. In the central United States, typical low-level jet streams are found in the atmosphere.
It is a fact that Meteorologists use to take help from some of it to get proper location and forecasting. But the major benefit we get from the jet streams is for air travel. It plays an important role in flight travel, whether a flight goes with the flow or against the flow.
If a flight goes with the flow of it, it faces less resistance – as a result of this, fuel consumption and time are less. On the other hand, if a flight goes against the stream, its fuel consumption and time increase. That is why airlines work to fly with the jet streams; often, airlines and air traffic control work together to get the maximum benefit from it.
Sometimes, ‘clear-air turbulences’ are found in them areas. But flight times are usually not affected by them. So, it is clear that they are an important issue for travelling flights in the atmosphere of Earth.
