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 Lecture  2c  -­‐  Geometric  and  geopotential  altitude  

Today  we  will  look  at  the  difference  between  the  geopotential  and  geometric  altitude,  and  what  it  
actually  is.  

Because   I   don’t   know   if   you   noticed,   by   during   the   derivation   of   the   hydrostatic   equation   and  
especially  the  standard  atmosphere,  we  made  a  simplification.  

Let’s  have  a  look  at  our  little  disk  of  air  which  we  used  in  the  hydrostatic  equation.  

We   used   a   standard   constant   g   throughout   our   equations,   so   we   used   a   standard   gravity  

acceleration.  

But   in   reality,   if   you   go   up   in   the   atmosphere   the   g   changes,   and   this   means   that   we   are   actually  
wrong  with  our  altitude.  

The  altitude  which  we  calculated,  which  is  the  geopotential  altitude  as  it  is  commonly  called,  is  not  
the  real  altitude.  

The   real   altitude   is   the   geometric   altitude,   and   you   would   use   the   geometric   altitude   if   you   would  
also  let  the  gravity  acceleration  vary  with  altitude,    

because   the   gravity   (the   force   of   gravity)   decreases   if   we   get   further   away   from   the   centre   of   the  
Earth.  

You   see   here   the   difference   expressed   in   the   equations,   so   the   dh   without   an   index   is   the  
geopotential  altitude,  because  this  is  actually  the  default  altitude  which  we  always  use.  

The  h_g  is  the  geometric  altitude,  with  the  correct  g.  Let’s  have  a  look  at  what  the  difference  is.  

For  this  we  will  first  look  at  the  gravity  (the  law  of  gravity)  itself.    

On  the  right  side  of  the  screen  here  we  see  the  Earth  with  the  radius  of  the  Earth  (R_e)  and  the  mass  
of  the  Earth  indicated  as  M_e,  and  we  are  a  certain  mass  m  flying  at  a  geometric  altitude  h_g.  

The   general   law   of   gravity   is   written   as  “F_G  is  the  gravity  constant  times   one   mass  times  the   second  
mass,  divided  by  the  distance  squared”.  

We  always  write  F_G  is  m  times  our  gravity  constant,  for  instance  at  sea  level.  

So  let’s  see  what  the  g  at  sea  level  is.  g_0  basically  becomes  the  mass  of  the  Earth  times  the  gravity  
constant  divided  by  R_e  squared,    

while  at  altitude  our  g  becomes  G  (times)  again  the  mass  but  then  (divided  by)  the  radius  of  the  Earth  
plus  the  geometric  altitude  squared.  

From  this  we  can  see  what  the  relation  between  the  two  types  of  g  is.    

And  for  this  we  can  simply  divide  then  by  saying  g  divided  over  g_0  is    

well  the  gravity  constant  and  the  mass  of  the  Earth  is  the  same,  which  means  we  get  1  divided  by  R_e  
plus  h_g  squared  on  the  top  side  of  the  division,  
and  we  get  1  divided  by  the  radius  of  the  Earth  squared  on  the  bottom  side.  

In  other  words,  this  becomes  our  relation  for  the  two  g’s,  because  that  is  the  origin  of  our  error.  

So  this  relation  we  will  now  use  to  see  what  the  effect  is  on  the  hydrostatic  equation.  

In  the  hydrostatic  equation  we  have  written  dp  is  minus  rho  (times)  g  (times)  dh,  and  it  is  this  part  
that  we  are  interested  in:  

Assuming   that   we   have   the   same   pressure   difference,   we   want   to   see   what   the   difference   in   altitude  
is.  

So   in   one   case   we   have   used   g_0   with   the   geopotential   altitude,   in   the   other   situation   we   have  
should  have  used  the  real  g  with  the  geometric  altitude.  

And   this   shows   the   relation   between   the   two   types   of   altitude:   the   change   in   geopotential   altitude   is  
g  over  g_0  times  the  change  in  geometric  altitude.    

And   for   this   we   just   derived   a   relation:   R_e   squared   divided   by   R_e   squared   plus   the   geometric  
altitude.  

So  R_e  squared  (over)  R_e  plus  h_g  squared,  and  again  times  dh_g.  

So   taking   this   and   this   side   of   the   equation   and   again   (because   this   is   only   true   for   small   altitude  
changes),   by   making   it   into   an   integral   we   can   solve   this,   so   let’s   see   what   happens   if   we   go   to   a  
certain  altitude.  

With   this   geopotential   altitude,   so   we   go   to   a   certain   altitude   with   dh,   and   this   should   be   equal   then  
to   going   to   (if   there   is   the   same   pressure   change)   to   the   geometric   altitude   which   then   becomes   this  
equation.    

And  this  is  an  integral  we  can  solve,  it  is  a  simple  polynomial  divided  by  a  polynomial.  

We  can  write  this  in  a  neater  way,  so  let’s  solve  this  integral.  

(The  integral  of)  dh  and  writing  it  like  this  (R_e  squared  times  (the  integral  of)  zero  to  h_g  of  1  divided  
by  R_e  plus  h_g  squared  (times)  dh_g)  

and  this  is  the  same  as  R_e  plus  h_g  to  the  power  of  minus  2,  in  other  words  the  integral  becomes  
minus  1  divided  by  R_e  plus  h_g  (again  multiplied  by  R_e  squared),    

minus  (and  we  need  to  fill  in  the  zero  altitude),  which  will  give  us  this  equation.  

So  to  get  rid  of  one  R_e  we  bring  one  Earth  radius  inside  the  brackets,  which  means  we  get  R_e  times  
minus  R_e  divided  over  R_e  plus  h_g  minus  minus  R_e  divided  by  R_e,  

and  this  now  simplifies  into  R_e  times  minus  R_e  divided  by  R_e  plus  h_g  plus  1.  

In  other  words  R_e  plus  h_g  minus  R_e  divided  by  R_e  plus  h_g.  

And   this   shows   that   the   final   result   is   the   Earth   radius   divided   by   the   Earth   radius   plus   the   geometric  
altitude  times  the  geometric  altitude.    
And  this  is  our  value  h,  because  this  is  the  solution  of  the  left  side  of  the  equation.    

So  the  final  solution  of  the  relation  between  the  geometric  altitude  and  the  geopotential  altitude  is  
this  equation.  

What  do  we  learn  from  this  equation?  Well  we  can  see  that  what  really  matters  is  how  large  h_g  is  
compared  to  the  Earth  radius.    

To  get  an  impression,  the  Earth  radius  is  6384  kilometres,  or  something  like  this.  

So   the   altitudes   at   which   we   fly   are   always   in   the   order   of   20   kilometres,   so   we   can   see   that   the  
effect  is  not  that  large.  

But  we  can  also  look  at  an  actual  value,  let’s  take  an  example  (for  instance  the  20  kilometres)  and  see  
what  the  effect  really  is,  

what  the  percentage  of  the  error  is  which  we  make  if  we  use  the  geopotential  altitude  instead  of  the  
geometric  altitude.  

So   what   is   the   effect   of   our   approximation,   of   using   the   geopotential   altitude   instead   of   the  
geometric  altitude?  

Well   let’s   use   the   result   of   our   derivation   to   calculate   it,   we   know   that   the   average   Earth   radius   is  
6378   kilometres   and   let’s   use   a   very   high   altitude   of   20   kilometres   to   see   the   effect   of   the   difference  
between  geopotential  and  geometric  altitude.  

Well,  if  we  use  our  equation  and  fill  in  these  numbers  we  can  see  that  the  actual  error  is  very  small:  

At   the   geometric   altitude   of   20,000   metres   (of   20   kilometres)   our   geopotential   altitude   would   say  
that  we  are  ‘only’  at  19,937.5  metres.    

This  means  the  error  is  about  0.3  %,  which  is  very  small.  And  this  is  also  one  of  the  reasons  why  we  
get  away  with  this  approximation  and  why  we  use  the  geopotential  altitude.  

Often  by  the  way  it  is  the  other  way  around:  when  we  say  we  are  at  20,000  metres  altitude  (so  20  
kilometres)  you  might  wander  “what  is  in  that  case  the  geometric  altitude?”.  

For  this  you  need  to  invert  the  equation  on  the  top  side  of  the  slide  and  then  fill  in  the  number  20  
kilometres  for  the  geopotential  altitude  h  and  then  you  can  calculate  the  geometric  altitude.  

This  would  be  a  good  exercise  for  you  to  try.