Comparison International Standard Atmosphere space diving

The International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) is a

static atmospheric model A reference atmospheric model describes how the ideal gas properties (namely: pressure, temperature, density, and molecular weight) of an atmosphere change, primarily as a function of altitude, and sometimes also as a function of latitude, day of ...

of how the

pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and e ...

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

, and

viscosity The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water. Viscosity quantifies the inte ...

of the

Earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

change over a wide range of

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

s or

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

s. It has been established to provide a common reference for temperature and pressure and consists of tables of values at various altitudes, plus some formulas by which those values were derived. The

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Ar ...

(ISO) publishes the ISA as an

international standard international standard is a technical standard developed by one or more international standards organizations. International standards are available for consideration and use worldwide. The most prominent such organization is the International Or ...

, ISO 2533:1975.

,
Standard Atmosphere
', ISO 2533:1975, 1975. Other

standards organization A standards organization, standards body, standards developing organization (SDO), or standards setting organization (SSO) is an organization whose primary function is developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpr ...

s, such as the

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sc ...

(ICAO) and the

United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

, publish extensions or subsets of the same atmospheric model under their own standards-making authority.

Description

The ISA

mathematical model A mathematical model is a description of a system using mathematical concepts and language. The process of developing a mathematical model is termed mathematical modeling. Mathematical models are used in the natural sciences (such as physics, ...

divides the atmosphere into layers with an assumed linear distribution of

absolute temperature Thermodynamic temperature is a quantity defined in thermodynamics as distinct from kinetic theory or statistical mechanics. Historically, thermodynamic temperature was defined by Kelvin in terms of a macroscopic relation between thermodynamic wor ...

''T'' against geopotential altitude ''h''.Gyatt, Graham (2006-01-14)
"The Standard Atmosphere"
. A mathematical model of the 1976 U.S. Standard Atmosphere. The other two values (pressure ''P'' and density ''ρ'') are computed by simultaneously solving the equations resulting from: * the vertical pressure gradient resulting from

hydrostatic balance In fluid mechanics, hydrostatic equilibrium (hydrostatic balance, hydrostasy) is the condition of a fluid or plastic solid at rest, which occurs when external forces, such as gravity, are balanced by a pressure-gradient force. In the planetary ...

, which relates the rate of change of pressure with geopotential altitude: ::

\frac = - \rho g

, and * the

ideal gas law The ideal gas law, also called the general gas equation, is the equation of state of a hypothetical ideal gas. It is a good approximation of the behavior of many gases under many conditions, although it has several limitations. It was first stat ...

in molar form, which relates

, and

: ::

\ P = \rho R_T

at each geopotential altitude, where ''g'' is the standard acceleration of gravity, and ''R''_specific is the

specific gas constant The molar gas constant (also known as the gas constant, universal gas constant, or ideal gas constant) is denoted by the symbol or . It is the molar equivalent to the Boltzmann constant, expressed in units of energy per temperature increment per ...

for dry air (287.0528J⋅kg⁻¹⋅K⁻¹). The solution is given by the

barometric formula The barometric formula, sometimes called the ''exponential atmosphere'' or ''isothermal atmosphere'', is a formula used to model how the pressure (or density) of the air changes with altitude. The pressure drops approximately by 11.3 pascals pe ...

. Air density must be calculated in order to solve for the pressure, and is used in calculating

dynamic pressure In fluid dynamics, dynamic pressure (denoted by or and sometimes called velocity pressure) is the quantity defined by:Clancy, L.J., ''Aerodynamics'', Section 3.5 :q = \frac\rho\, u^2 where (in SI units): * is the dynamic pressure in pascals ( ...

for moving vehicles.

Dynamic viscosity The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water. Viscosity quantifies the inter ...

is an empirical function of temperature, and

kinematic viscosity The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water. Viscosity quantifies the inter ...

is calculated by dividing dynamic viscosity by the density. Thus the standard consists of a tabulation of values at various altitudes, plus some formulas by which those values were derived. To accommodate the lowest points on Earth, the model starts at a base geopotential altitude of ''below sea level'', with standard temperature set at 19 °C. With a temperature

lapse rate The lapse rate is the rate at which an atmospheric variable, normally temperature in Earth's atmosphere, falls with altitude. ''Lapse rate'' arises from the word ''lapse'', in the sense of a gradual fall. In dry air, the adiabatic lapse rate is ...

of −6.5 °C (-11.7 °F) per km (roughly −2 °C (-3.6 °F) per 1,000 ft), the table interpolates to the

standard mean sea level Standard sea-level conditions (SSL), also known as sea-level standard (SLS), defines a set of atmospheric conditions for physical calculations. The term "standard sea level" is used to indicate that values of properties are to be taken to be the sam ...

values of temperature, (1 atm) pressure, and a density of . The

tropospheric The troposphere is the first and lowest layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, and contains 75% of the total mass of the planetary atmosphere, 99% of the total mass of water vapour and aerosols, and is where most weather phenomena occur. From ...

tabulation continues to , where the temperature has fallen to , the pressure to , and the density to . Between 11 km and 20 km, the temperature remains constant.Batchelor, G. K., ''An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics'', Cambridge Univ. Press, 1967. :

given per kilometer of ''geopotential altitude (A positive lapse rate (λ > 0) means temperature decreases with height)'' In the above table, '' geopotential altitude'' is calculated from a mathematical model that adjusts the altitude to include the variation of gravity with height, while ''geometric altitude'' is the standard direct vertical distance above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...

(MSL). Note that the Lapse Rates cited in the table are given as °C per kilometer of geopotential altitude, not geometric altitude. The ISA model is based on average conditions at mid latitudes, as determined by the ISO's TC 20/SC 6 technical committee. It has been revised from time to time since the middle of the 20th century.

Use at non-standard day conditions

The ISA models a hypothetical standard day to allow a reproducible engineering reference for calculation and testing of engine and vehicle performance at various altitudes. It ''does not'' provide a rigorous meteorological model of actual atmospheric conditions (for example, changes in barometric pressure due to wind conditions). Neither does it account for

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

effects; air is assumed to be dry and clean and of constant composition. Humidity effects are accounted for in vehicle or engine analysis by adding water vapor to the

thermodynamic state In thermodynamics, a thermodynamic state of a system is its condition at a specific time; that is, fully identified by values of a suitable set of parameters known as state variables, state parameters or thermodynamic variables. Once such a set o ...

of the air after obtaining the pressure and density from the standard atmosphere model. Non-standard (hot or cold) days are modeled by adding a specified temperature delta to the standard temperature at altitude, but pressure is taken as the standard day value. Density and viscosity are recalculated at the resultant temperature and pressure using the ideal gas equation of state. Hot day, Cold day, Tropical, and Polar temperature profiles with altitude have been defined for use as performance references, such as

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

MIL-STD-210C, and its successor MIL-HDBK-310.

ICAO Standard Atmosphere

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) published their "ICAO Standard Atmosphere" as Doc 7488-CD in 1993. It has the same model as the ISA, but extends the altitude coverage to 80 kilometers (262,500 feet). The ICAO Standard Atmosphere, like the ISA, does not contain water vapor. Some of the values defined by ICAO are: Aviation standards and flying rules are based on the International Standard Atmosphere.

Airspeed indicator The airspeed indicator (ASI) or airspeed gauge is a flight instrument indicating the airspeed of an aircraft in kilometers per hour (km/h), knots (kn), miles per hour (MPH) and/or meters per second (m/s). The recommendation by ICAO is to use km/h, ...

s are calibrated on the assumption that they are operating at sea level in the International Standard Atmosphere where the air density is 1.225 kg/m³.

Other standard atmospheres

The

U.S. Standard Atmosphere The U.S. Standard Atmosphere is a static atmospheric model of how the pressure, temperature, density, and viscosity of the Earth's atmosphere change over a wide range of altitudes or elevations. The model, based on an existing international stand ...

is a set of models that define values for atmospheric temperature, density, pressure and other properties over a wide range of altitudes. The first model, based on an existing international standard, was published in 1958 by the U.S. Committee on Extension to the Standard Atmosphere,U.S. Extension to the ICAO Standard Atmosphere, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1958 and was updated in 1962,U.S. Standard Atmosphere, 1962, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1962 1966,U.S. Standard Atmosphere Supplements, 1966, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1966 and 1976.U.S. Standard Atmosphere
1976, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1976 (Linked file is 17 MB) The U.S. Standard Atmosphere, International Standard Atmosphere and WMO (World Meteorological Organization) standard atmospheres are the same as the ISO International Standard Atmosphere for altitudes up to 32 km.

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

"U.S. Standard Atmosphere 1976"

NRLMSISE-00 NRLMSISE-00 is an empirical, global reference atmospheric model of the Earth from ground to space. It models the temperatures and densities of the atmosphere's components. A primary use of this model is to aid predictions of satellite orbital deca ...

is a newer model of the Earth's atmosphere from ground to space, developed by the

US Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...

taking actual satellite drag data into account. A primary use of this model is to aid predictions of

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

orbital decay due to

atmospheric drag In fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called air resistance, a type of friction, or fluid resistance, another type of friction or fluid friction) is a force acting opposite to the relative motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding flu ...

. The COSPAR International Reference Atmosphere (CIRA) 2012 and the ISO 14222 Earth Atmosphere Density standard both recommend NRLMSISE-00 for composition uses. JB2008 is a newer model of the Earth’s atmosphere from 120 km to 2000 km, developed by the US Air Force Space Command and Space Environment Technologies taking into account realistic solar irradiances and time evolution of geomagnetic storms.JB2008
/ref> It is most useful for calculating satellite orbital decay due to

. Both CIRA 2012 and ISO 14222 recommend JB2008 for mass density in drag uses.

References

*
NASA JPL Reference Notes
* ICAO, ''Manual of the ICAO Standard Atmosphere (extended to 80 kilometres (262 500 feet))'', Doc 7488-CD, Third Edition, 1993, .

External links