© 2009 Auld -- www.aerodynamics4students.

com

Properties of the Atmosphere

1. International Standard Atmosphere (ISA).

The International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) has been agreed to by many representative countries and
entities in the aviation field. It is a representative model of the atmosphere and not an average. Many of the
participants in aviation are in the northern hemisphere so their standard will need to be adjusted to suit local
conditions elsewhere.

2. Sea Level Conditions

Property Metric unit Imperial Unit

Pressure, P 101.3 kPa 2116.7 lbf/ft2

Density, ρ 1.225 Kg/m3 0.002378 slug/ft3

Temperature, T 15oC 288.2 K 59 oF 518 oR

Speed of Sound, a 340.3 m/s 1116.4 ft/s

Viscosity, μ 1.789 x 10-5 Kg/m/s 3.737 x 10-7 slug/ft/s

Kinematic Viscosity, ν 1.460x10-5 m2/s 1.5723x10-4 ft2/s

Thermal Conductivity, k 0.02596 W/m/K 0.015 BTU/hr/ft/oR

Gas Constant, R 287.1 J/Kg/K 1715.7 ft lbf/slug/oR

Specific Heat, Cp 1005 J/Kg/K 6005 ft lbf/slug/oR

Specific Heat, Cv 717.98 J/Kg/K 4289 ft lbf/slug/oR

Ratio of Specific Heats, γ 1.40

Gravitational Acceleration, g 9.80665 m/s2 32.174 ft/s2

3. ISA Variation with Altitude

Pressure, temperature, density, viscosity and speed of sound variation for the international standard
atmosphere (ISA) can be calculated for a range of altitudes from sea level upward. This is done using an
exact solution to the hydrostatic equation for a column of air. The air is assumed to be a perfect gas. In the
lower region, the troposphere, the atmosphere has a lapse rate (L) of 6.5K/Km . At an altitude of 36089 ft the
stratosphere starts and the temperature remains constant at 217K. The hydrostatic equation, perfect gas law
and the lapse rate equations are,

∂P
=− g , P= R T and T =T o−L. h
∂h

where the variables used are,

P -- Pressure (Pa) T -- Temperature (K)
g -- Gravitational acceleration (9.8 m/s2); TO -- Standard sea level temperature (288 K);
R -- Gas constant for air (287 m2/s2/K); h -- Altitude above sea level (m),
L -- Lapse rate (0.0065 K/m) and ρ -- Air density, ( Kg/m3);

Figure 1. Atmospheric Layers and Temperature Variation with Altitude.

Solving the hydrostatic equation with a constant lapse rate gives the resulting pressure variation in the
troposphere.

g
P
Po
T
= o
T  L.R

where sea level pressure, Po , is set at the standard 101.3 kPa.

Solving the hydrostatic equation with a constant temperature gives the resulting pressure variation in the
stratosphere.

P
=e
 g hs −h
RT S 
Ps
where conditions with subscript (s) are values of altitude (hs), pressure (Ps) or temperature (Ts) at the
tropopause, the start of the stratosphere; the line dividing the two distinct atmospheric regions.
Once pressure has been calculated at a particular altitude, density is then calculated using the perfect gas
law. Viscosity and kinematic viscosity are found by applying the Sutherland law

=0.1456×10−5 T
1−
110
T 
And finally speed of sound is found based on the temperature,

a= R T

Based on the above equations, several applications are available that show atmospheric properties for a
specific altitude. The applications can also be used to predict Mach Number, Dynamic Pressure and other
altitude dependent properties if an input speed and reference length are given.

• Atmosphere Properties Web Calculator

• Atmosphere Properties Calculator (MS Windows Executable)

• Table of Atmosphere Properties.

4. Variation of Local Ground Conditions.

On many occasions the ground temperature and pressure will not exactly be equal to ISA standard
conditions. In these cases it is possible to adjust the atmosphere model to suit local conditions. As the depth
of the atmosphere is very small (125Km-150Km) local variations in temperature and pressure will
substantially effect the full depth of the atmosphere.

Where local sea level temperature is above 15oC an ISA+ model is used. In this model the complete
atmosphere is incremented by the temperature difference between the current sea level temperature and the
standard value of 15oC. For example, on a 20oC day, an ISA + 5 model is used. Temperature at all levels of
the atmosphere model are incremented by 5oC. With this adjustment, the previous formulae for pressure,
density, viscosity and speed of sound variation can still be used.

No adjustments are made for ground surface altitude, all calculations are done based on model starting at
sea level. If the local ground level locally is well above sea level then the atmospheric model will still be
based on sea level and will start at the altitude of the ground compared to sea level.

5. Variation of Density due to Humidity.

The density of the air for a given level of humidity can be found by applying a correction factor to the above
calculated perfect gas density.

P
=PG . K h ,  PG=
RT

The correction factor, Kh, can be found by using wet and dry bulb temperature measurements to predict
relative humidity as shown in the table below. The relative humidity can be used to obtain the density
correction factor from the following graph. Note that the density correction factor produced assumes
approximately sea level pressure in the application of these formula.
 Table 1. Relative Humidity (%) based on measured Temperature Difference,

Relative Humidity (%)

Dry Bulb Temperature Difference,oC TDRY - TWET

oC 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

81 64 46 29 13

2 84 68 52 37 22 7

4 85 71 57 43 29 16

6 86 73 60 48 35 24 11

8 87 75 63 51 40 29 19 8

10 88 77 66 55 44 34 24 15 6

12 89 78 68 58 48 39 29 21 12

14 90 79 70 60 51 42 34 26 18 10

16 90 81 71 63 54 46 38 30 23 15 8

18 91 82 73 65 57 49 41 34 27 20 14 7

20 91 83 74 66 59 51 44 37 31 24 18 12

22 92 83 76 68 61 54 47 40 34 28 22 17

24 92 84 77 69 62 56 49 43 37 31 26 20

26 92 85 78 71 64 58 51 46 40 34 29 24

28 93 85 78 72 65 59 53 48 42 37 32 27

30 93 86 79 73 67 61 55 50 44 39 35 30

32 93 86 80 74 68 62 57 51 46 41 37 32

34 93 87 81 75 69 63 58 53 48 43 39 35

36 94 87 81 75 70 64 59 54 50 45 41 37

Reference: "Handbook of Chemistry and Physics" Ed R.C.Weast, The Chemical Rubber Co., Ohio, 1964
 Figure 2. Humidity Correction Factor.

Table 2. Variation of Atmosphere with Altitude

Altitude Temperature P/Po ρ/ρo μ/μo ν/νo Speed of

Sound

m ft oC m/s

0 0 15.2 1 1 1 1 340.3

152 500 14.2 0.9821 0.9855 0.9973 1.0121 339.7

304 1000 13.2 0.9644 0.9711 0.9947 1.0243 339.1

457 1500 12.2 0.947 0.9568 0.992 1.0367 338.5

609 2000 11.2 0.9298 0.9428 0.9893 1.0493 338

762 2500 10.2 0.9129 0.9289 0.9866 1.0622 337.4

914 3000 9.3 0.8962 0.9151 0.9839 1.0752 336.8

1066 3500 8.3 0.8798 0.9015 0.9812 1.0884 336.2

1219 4000 7.3 0.8637 0.8881 0.9785 1.1018 335.6

1371 4500 6.3 0.8477 0.8748 0.9758 1.1155 335

1524 5000 5.3 0.832 0.8617 0.9731 1.1293 334.4

Altitude Temperature P/Po ρ/ρo μ/μo ν/νo Speed of
Sound

1676 5500 4.3 0.8166 0.8487 0.9704 1.1434 333.8

1828 6000 3.3 0.8014 0.8359 0.9677 1.1577 333.2

1981 6500 2.3 0.7864 0.8232 0.9649 1.1722 332.6

2133 7000 1.3 0.7716 0.8106 0.9622 1.187 332

2286 7500 0.3 0.7571 0.7983 0.9595 1.202 331.4

2438 8000 -0.6 0.7428 0.786 0.9567 1.2172 330.8

2590 8500 -1.6 0.7287 0.7739 0.954 1.2327 330.2

2743 9000 -2.6 0.7148 0.762 0.9512 1.2484 329.6

2895 9500 -3.6 0.7012 0.7501 0.9485 1.2644 329

3048 10000 -4.6 0.6877 0.7385 0.9457 1.2807 328.4

3200 10500 -5.6 0.6745 0.7269 0.943 1.2972 327.8

3352 11000 -6.6 0.6614 0.7155 0.9402 1.314 327.2

3505 11500 -7.6 0.6486 0.7043 0.9374 1.331 326.6

3657 12000 -8.6 0.636 0.6932 0.9347 1.3484 326

3810 12500 -9.6 0.6236 0.6822 0.9319 1.366 325.4

3962 13000 -10.6 0.6113 0.6713 0.9291 1.384 324.7

4114 13500 -11.5 0.5993 0.6606 0.9263 1.4022 324.1

4267 14000 -12.5 0.5875 0.65 0.9235 1.4207 323.5

4419 14500 -13.5 0.5758 0.6396 0.9207 1.4396 322.9

4572 15000 -14.5 0.5643 0.6292 0.9179 1.4588 322.3

4724 15500 -15.5 0.5531 0.619 0.9151 1.4783 321.7

4876 16000 -16.5 0.542 0.609 0.9123 1.4981 321

5029 16500 -17.5 0.5311 0.599 0.9094 1.5183 320.4

5181 17000 -18.5 0.5203 0.5892 0.9066 1.5388 319.8

5334 17500 -19.5 0.5098 0.5795 0.9038 1.5596 319.2

5486 18000 -20.5 0.4994 0.5699 0.9009 1.5809 318.5

5638 18500 -21.5 0.4892 0.5604 0.8981 1.6025 317.9

Altitude Temperature P/Po ρ/ρo μ/μo ν/νo Speed of
Sound

5791 19000 -22.4 0.4791 0.5511 0.8953 1.6244 317.3

5943 19500 -23.4 0.4693 0.5419 0.8924 1.6468 316.7

6096 20000 -24.4 0.4595 0.5328 0.8895 1.6696 316

6248 20500 -25.4 0.45 0.5238 0.8867 1.6927 315.4

6400 21000 -26.4 0.4406 0.515 0.8838 1.7163 314.8

6553 21500 -27.4 0.4314 0.5062 0.8809 1.7403 314.1

6705 22000 -28.4 0.4223 0.4976 0.8781 1.7647 313.5

6858 22500 -29.4 0.4134 0.4891 0.8752 1.7895 312.9

7010 23000 -30.4 0.4046 0.4806 0.8723 1.8148 312.2

7162 23500 -31.4 0.396 0.4723 0.8694 1.8406 311.6

7315 24000 -32.3 0.3876 0.4642 0.8665 1.8668 311

7467 24500 -33.3 0.3793 0.4561 0.8636 1.8935 310.3

7620 25000 -34.3 0.3711 0.4481 0.8607 1.9207 309.7

7772 25500 -35.3 0.3631 0.4402 0.8578 1.9484 309

7924 26000 -36.3 0.3552 0.4325 0.8548 1.9766 308.4

8077 26500 -37.3 0.3474 0.4248 0.8519 2.0053 307.7

8229 27000 -38.3 0.3398 0.4173 0.849 2.0345 307.1

8382 27500 -39.3 0.3324 0.4098 0.846 2.0643 306.4

8534 28000 -40.3 0.325 0.4025 0.8431 2.0947 305.8

8686 28500 -41.3 0.3178 0.3953 0.8402 2.1256 305.1

8839 29000 -42.3 0.3107 0.3881 0.8372 2.1571 304.5

8991 29500 -43.2 0.3038 0.3811 0.8342 2.1892 303.8

9144 30000 -44.2 0.297 0.3741 0.8313 2.2219 303.2

9296 30500 -45.2 0.2903 0.3673 0.8283 2.2553 302.5

9448 31000 -46.2 0.2837 0.3605 0.8253 2.2892 301.9

9601 31500 -47.2 0.2772 0.3539 0.8223 2.3239 301.2

9753 32000 -48.2 0.2709 0.3473 0.8194 2.3592 300.5

Altitude Temperature P/Po ρ/ρo μ/μo ν/νo Speed of
Sound

9906 32500 -49.2 0.2647 0.3408 0.8164 2.3952 299.9

10058 33000 -50.2 0.2586 0.3345 0.8134 2.4318 299.2

10210 33500 -51.2 0.2526 0.3282 0.8104 2.4692 298.6

10363 34000 -52.2 0.2467 0.322 0.8073 2.5074 297.9

10515 34500 -53.2 0.241 0.3159 0.8043 2.5463 297.2

10668 35000 -54.1 0.2353 0.3099 0.8013 2.5859 296.5

10820 35500 -55.1 0.2298 0.3039 0.7983 2.6264 295.9

10972 36000 -56.1 0.2243 0.2981 0.7952 2.6677 295.2

11000 36089 -56.5 0.2234 0.2971 0.7947 2.6751 295.1

11277 37000 -56.5 0.2138 0.2843 0.7947 2.7948 295.1

11582 38000 -56.5 0.2038 0.271 0.7947 2.9324 295.1

11887 39000 -56.5 0.1942 0.2583 0.7947 3.0768 295.1

12192 40000 -56.5 0.1851 0.2462 0.7947 3.2283 295.1

12496 41000 -56.5 0.1764 0.2346 0.7947 3.3872 295.1

12801 42000 -56.5 0.1681 0.2236 0.7947 3.554 295.1

13106 43000 -56.5 0.1602 0.2131 0.7947 3.729 295.1

13411 44000 -56.5 0.1527 0.2031 0.7947 3.9126 295.1

13716 45000 -56.5 0.1456 0.1936 0.7947 4.1052 295.1

14020 46000 -56.5 0.1387 0.1845 0.7947 4.3073 295.1

14325 47000 -56.5 0.1322 0.1758 0.7947 4.5194 295.1

14630 48000 -56.5 0.126 0.1676 0.7947 4.7419 295.1

14935 49000 -56.5 0.1201 0.1597 0.7947 4.9754 295.1

15240 50000 -56.5 0.1145 0.1522 0.7947 5.2203 295.1

15544 51000 -56.5 0.1091 0.1451 0.7947 5.4773 295.1

15849 52000 -56.5 0.104 0.1383 0.7947 5.747 295.1

16154 53000 -56.5 0.9909-1 0.1318 0.7947 6.03 295.1

16459 54000 -56.5 0.9444-1 0.1256 0.7947 6.3268 295.1

Altitude Temperature P/Po ρ/ρo μ/μo ν/νo Speed of
Sound

16764 55000 -56.5 0.9001-1 0.1197 0.7947 6.6383 295.1

17068 56000 -56.5 0.8579-1 0.1141 0.7947 6.9652 295.1

17373 57000 -56.5 0.8176-1 0.1087 0.7947 7.3081 295.1

17678 58000 -56.5 0.7793-1 0.1036 0.7947 7.6679 295.1

17983 59000 -56.5 0.7427-1 0.9878-1 0.7947 8.0454 295.1

18288 60000 -56.5 0.7079-1 0.9414-1 0.7947 8.4416 295.1

18592 61000 -56.5 0.6746-1 0.8972-1 0.7947 8.8572 295.1

18897 62000 -56.5 0.6430-1 0.8551-1 0.7947 9.2932 295.1

19202 63000 -56.5 0.6128-1 0.8150-1 0.7947 9.7508 295.1

19507 64000 -56.5 0.5841-1 0.7768-1 0.7947 10.231 295.1

19812 65000 -56.5 0.5566-1 0.7403-1 0.7947 10.735 295.1

20116 66000 -56.5 0.5305-1 0.7056-1 0.7947 11.263 295.1

20421 67000 -56.5 0.5056-1 0.6725-1 0.7947 11.818 295.1

20726 68000 -56.5 0.4819-1 0.6409-1 0.7947 12.399 295.1

21031 69000 -56.5 0.4593-1 0.6108-1 0.7947 13.01 295.1

21336 70000 -56.5 0.4377-1 0.5822-1 0.7947 13.65 295.1

Return to Table of Contents