The Standard Atmosphere 1.

Altitude

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Aerospace vehicles can be divided into two basic categories: atmospheric vehicles such as airplanes and helicopters, and space vehicles such as satellites and deep space probes, which operate outside the atmosphere. During the design and performance of any aerospace vehicle, the properties of the atmosphere must be taken into account. The atmosphere is always in a state of flux. Pressure and temperature depend on altitude, location on the globe, time of day, season, etc. It is impractical to take all of these variables into account when designing an aerospace system. Therefore, a standard atmosphere with average values can be used for validation of flight tests, wind-tunnel results, and general airplane design and performance analysis. In this section, six different altitudes will be defined: absolute, geometric, geopotential, pressure, temperature, and density. The altitude above the sea is the geometric altitude (hG). The altitude from the center of the earth to a distance above sea level is called absolute altitude (ha).

If r is the radius of the earth, then ha = r + hG. Absolute altitude is important for space flight since gravity varies with altitude. From Newtons law of gravitation, we can calculate the local value of gravity as a function of altitude, ( 2. The Hydrostatic Equation The hydrostatic equation is the basic of a model to obtain values of pressure, density, and temperature as functions of altitude. The hydrostatic equation can be thought of as a force balance on an element of fluid at rest.
1

Introduction to Aerospace Engineering | Ing. Carlos Snchez

The Standard Atmosphere

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As it can be seen in the diagram above, the cube represents a particle of air suspended in the atmosphere. On the bottom face the pressure P is felt and exerts a force of P*1*1 = P. The top face is slightly higher, and it will have a pressure P+dP, since pressure varies with altitude. This pressure will exert a force of P+dP *1*1 = P+dP on the fluid element. The volume of the fluid particle would be dhG*1*1 = dhG. If gravity is g, then the weight of the element is gdhG. To keep the element in equilibrium, all forces should be zero, P = (P+dP) + gdhG Therefore, This is the hydrostatic equation, and it applies to any fluid of density . This equation states that for any infinitesimal change in altitude, it corresponds an infinitesimal change in pressure. To simplify the integration of pressure, the assumption that gravity is constant and has sea level value can be made to obtain the variation of pressure with altitude. Therefore,

3. Relation Between Geopotential and Geometric Altitudes We need to relate the pressure with geometric altitude. Dividing dp = -g0dh by dP = -gdhG, we obtain, 1 = (g0/g)*(dh/dhG) or dh = (g/g0)*dhG Therefore,
( )

. Integrating we have,

( (

) ) (

( )

Introduction to Aerospace Engineering | Ing. Carlos Snchez

The Standard Atmosphere ( ( )

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( )

where h is the geopotential altitude and the geometric altitude. For low altitudes, there is little difference between h and . Only at altitudes above 65 km the difference is above 1 percent. 4. Definition of the Standard Atmosphere We can now obtain values of pressure, temperature, and density as functions of altitude for the standard atmosphere. The figure below shows the results of temperature as a function of altitude. The vertical parts of the diagram are called isothermal and the inclined parts are called gradient regions. To obtain formulas for pressure and density as functions of altitude we can follow the hydrostatic equation,

Introduction to Aerospace Engineering | Ing. Carlos Snchez

The Standard Atmosphere If we divide by the equation of state,

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For the isothermal part shown below, we can obtain the pressure at any value of altitude by integrating the above equation, ( Taking the e function on both sides,
( )( )

From the equation of state,

Therefore,
( )( )

These two equations give the variation of pressure and density as functions of geopotential altitude for isothermal layers of the standard atmosphere.

Introduction to Aerospace Engineering | Ing. Carlos Snchez

The Standard Atmosphere

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Now we consider the gradient layers as shown below. The temperature variation is linear and is given by,

Where a is the lapse rate for the gradient layers and it is a specified constant for each layer.

If we substitute a into

Integrating from

to h, it yields,

Therefore, ( )

Introduction to Aerospace Engineering | Ing. Carlos Snchez

The Standard Atmosphere From the equation of state,

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The equation for the variation of pressure obtained above becomes ( )

( )

( ) Or,
[( ) ]

( )

The variation of temperature is linear with altitude and is given by, ( )

This equation gives temperature as a function of altitude for the gradient regions and can be used along with the above squared values to obtain pressure and density. At sea level, the values of temperature, pressure, and density are given by,

These are the base values for the first gradient region until T = 216.66 at h = 11 km. Then, starting at h = 11 km, the values of pressure and density can be calculated using the isothermal formulas computed earlier until h = 25 km, and so on. With these calculations and following the figure of the isothermal and gradient regions of altitude vs temperature, the values of the standard atmosphere can be tabulated.

Introduction to Aerospace Engineering | Ing. Carlos Snchez

The Standard Atmosphere 5. Pressure, Temperature, and Density Altitudes

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With the values of the standard atmosphere we can now define three new altitudes: pressure, temperature, and density altitudes. The pressure altitude is the altitude that corresponds to any given value of pressure of the air. For example, imagine you are in an airplane flying at a given altitude. Then you measure the outside pressure and you find that it is 6.16x104 N/m2. From Appendix A, you find that the standard altitude that corresponds to a pressure of 6.16x104 N/m2 is 4 km. Therefore, you are flying at a pressure altitude of 4 km. Then if you measure the outside air temperature and find that it is 265.4 K, then in Appendix A you can find that the value of altitude that corresponds to 265.4 K is 3.5 km. The density altitude can be calculated in a similar way. 6. Examples

Introduction to Aerospace Engineering | Ing. Carlos Snchez

The Standard Atmosphere

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Introduction to Aerospace Engineering | Ing. Carlos Snchez