Chapter 2

The Earth’s Atmosphere

2.1 Introduction

Airplanes fly in the earth’s atmosphere and

therefore , it is necessary to have a knowledge of
the properties of the earth’s atmosphere.
In this chapter, we will study the average
characteristics of the earth’s atmosphere in
various regions and the International Standard
Atmosphere (ISA) which is used for calculation
of airplane performance.

1
The earth’s atmosphere is a gaseous blanket
around the earth which is divided into the five
regions based on certain intrinsic features (see
Fig.2.1)
– Troposphere
– Stratosphere
– Mesosphere
– Ionosphere or Thermosphere
– Exosphere
There is no sharp distinction between these
regions and each region gradually merges with
the neighboring regions.
2
Fig.2.1 Variation of temperature and pressure in the
earth’s atmosphere 3
The Troposphere
– This is the region closest to the earth’s
surface.
– It is characterized by turbulent conditions of
air.
– The temperature decreases linearly at an
approximate rate of 6.5 K / km.
– The highest point of the troposphere is called
tropopause. The height of the tropopause
varies from about 9 km at the poles to about
16 km at the equator.

4
The Stratosphere
– This extends from the tropopause to about
50 km.
– High velocity winds may be encountered, but they
are not gusty.
– Temperature remains constant up to about 25 km
and then increases.
– The highest point of the stratosphere is called the
stratopause.

5
The Mesosphere
– The mesosphere extends from the stratopause
to about 80 km.
– The temperature decreases in this region.
– In the mesosphere, the pressure and density
of air are very low, but the air still retains it’s
composition as that at sea level.
– The highest point of the mesosphere is called
the mesopause.

6
The Ionosphere
– This region extends from the mesopause to
about 500 km.
– It is characterized by the presence of ions and
free electrons.
– Temperature increases from 0ºC to about
2200ºC at the upper limit.
– Some electrical phenomena like the aurora
borealis occur in this region.

7
The exosphere
– This is the outer fringe of the earth’s
atmosphere.
– Very few molecules are found in this region.
– The region gradually merges into the
interplanetary space.

8
2.2 International Standard Atmosphere (ISA)
The properties of earth’s atmosphere like pressure,
temperature and density vary not only with height
above the earth’s surface but also with the location
on earth, from day to day and even during the day.
The performance of an airplane is dependent on the
physical properties of the earth’s atmosphere.
Hence, for the purposes of comparing
(a) the performance of different airplanes and
(b) the performance of the same airplane measured
in flight tests on different days,
a set of values for atmospheric properties have been
agreed upon, which represent average conditions
prevailing for most of the year, in Europe and 9
North America. Though the agreed values do not
represent the actual conditions anywhere at any
given time, they are useful as a reference.
This set of values called the International Standard
Atmosphere (ISA) is prescribed by ICAO
(International Civil Aviation Organization). It is
defined by the pressure and temperature at mean
sea level, and the variation of temperature with
altitude up to 20 km. With this model of the
atmosphere, it is possible to find the required
physical characteristics at any altitude.

10
Remark:
The actual performance of an airplane is
measured in flight tests under prevailing
conditions of temperature, pressure and density.
Methods are available to deduce, from the flight
test data , the performance of the airplane under
ISA conditions. When this procedure is applied to
various airplanes and performance presented
under ISA conditions , then comparison among
different airplanes is possible.
2.2 Features of ISA
The main features of the ISA are the standard
sea level values and the variation of temperature
with altitude. 11
 The air is assumed as dry perfect gas
The standard sea level conditions are as follows:
– Temperature (T0) = 288.15 K = 15°C
– Pressure (p0) = 101326 N/m2
– Temperature Lapse Rate = 6.5 K/km upto 11 km
= 0 K/km from 11-20km
The region of ISA upto 11 km is referred to as
troposphere and the above that, as stratosphere.
Note:
Using the equation of state p = ρ R T, we get the sea
level density (ρ0) as 1.225 kg/m3

12
2.2.2 Variations of properties with altitude in ISA
For calculation of the variations of pressure,
temperature and density with altitude, we use the
following equations
– The equation of state p = ρ R T (2.1)
– The hydrostatic equation dp/dh = - ρ g (2.2)
Remark
The buoyancy equation can be easily derived by
considering the balance of forces on a small fluid
element.
Consider a cylindrical fluid element of area A and
height ∆h as shown in the Fig.2.2.
The forces acting in the vertical direction on the
element are the pressure forces and the weight 13of
the element.
Fig 2.2 Equilibrium of a fluid element.
14
For vertical equilibrium of the element,
pA – {p + (dp/dh) ∆h}A – ρgA∆h = 0
Simplifying, dp/dh = - ρg

Variations of p and ρ with h:

Substituting for ρ from the eq. (2.1) in eq. (2.2)
gives :
dp/dh = -(p/RT)g
or (dp/p) = -g dh/RT (2.3)
Equation (2.3) is solved separately in troposphere
and stratosphere, taking into account the
temperature variations in each region.

15
For example, in the troposphere, the variation of
temperature with altitude is given by the
equation
T = T0 – λ h (2.4)
where T0 is the sea level temperature, T is the
temperature at the altitude h and λ is the
temperature lapse rate in the troposphere.
Substituting from eq.(2.4) in eq.(2.3) gives
(dp/p) = - gdh/R(T0 – λ h) (2.5)
Equation (2.5) can be integrated between two
altitudes h1 and h2.

16
Taking h1 as sea level and h2 as the desired
altitude (h), the integration gives
(p/p0) = (T/T0)(g/λR) (2.6)
Where T is the temperature at the desired
altitude (h) given by eq.(2.4).
Equation(2.6) gives the variation of pressure
with altitude.
The variation of density with altitude can be
obtained using Eq.(2.6) and the equation of
state. The resulting variation of density with
temperature in the troposphere is given by
(ρ/ρ0) = (T/T0)(g/λR)-1 (2.7)

17
Thus both the pressure and density variations are
obtained once the temperature variation is
known.
As per the ISA, R = 287.05 m2sec-2K and
g = 9.806536 m/s2.
Using these and λ = 0.0065 K/m in the
troposphere yields (g/Rλ) as 5.256.
Thus, in the troposphere, we get the pressure
and density variations as
(p/p0) = (T/T0)5.256 (2.8)
(ρ/ρ0) = (T/T0)4.256 (2.9)

18
In order to obtain the variations in the
stratosphere, we need to carry out the previous
analysis with
λ = 0 i.e., T having a constant value of
temperature at 11 km (T = 216.65 K).
From this analysis we obtain the following
pressure and density variations in the
stratosphere,
(p2/p1) = (ρ2/ρ1) = exp{g(h1-h2)/RTs} (2.10)
Where Ts is the temperature at 11 km.
Thus, the pressure and density variations have
been worked out in the troposphere and the
stratosphere of ISA. 19
 Remarks:
i) Using Eqs.(2.1) and (2.2) the variations of
pressure and density can be worked out for other
variations of temperature with height (see
exercise 2.1).
ii) The ratio (ρ/ρ0) is denoted by σ and the ratio
(p/p0) is denoted by δ.
iii) The speed of sound in air, denoted by ‘a’
depends only on the temperature and is given by:
a = ( γRT)0.5 (2.11)
where γ is the ratio of specific heats; for air
γ = 1.4
iv) The kinematic viscosity ( ν ) is given by: 20
ν= µ / ρ where µ is the coefficient of viscosity.
v)The coefficient of viscosity of air (µ) depends only
on temperature. Its variation with temperature
is given by the following Sutherland formula

T 3/ 2
µ = 1.458 X 10 [
−6
] (2.12)
T + 110.4

Where T is in Kelvin and µ is in kg m-1 s-1.

vi) Variations of atmospheric properties in standard
atmosphere are presented in Table (2.1).

21
 General remarks

i ) Atmospheric properties in cases other than ISA.

It will be evident from chapters 4 and 5 that the
engine characteristics and the airplane performance
depend on atmospheric characteristics. Noting that
ISA only represents average atmospheric conditions,
other atmospheric models have been proposed as
guidelines for extreme conditions in artic and tropical
regions. Figure 2.3 shows temperature variations with
altitude in artic and tropical atmospheres along with
ISA. It is seen that the artic minimum atmosphere
has following features . (a) The sea level
temperature in -500C (b) The temperature increases
at the rate of 10 K per km up to 1500 m altitude. 22
 Temperature 0C
Fig 2.3 Temperature variations in arctic minimum,
ISA and tropical maximum atmospheres
23
(Adapted from Ref.1.5, Chapter 3)
 (c ) The temperature remains constant at -350C
up to 3000 m altitude (d) Then the temperature
decreases at the rate of 4.72 K per km up to
15.5 km altitude (e) The tropopause in this case
is at 15.5 km and the temperature there is -940c.
The features of the tropical maximum atmosphere
are as follow.
(a) Sea level temperature in 450C .
(b) The temperature decreases at the rate of 6.5 K
per km up to 11.54 km and then remains
constant at -300C.

24
Note:
(a) The local temperature varies with latitude but
the sea level pressure (po) depends on the weight of
air above and is taken same at all the places i.e.
101326 N/m2. Knowing po and To , and the lapse
rate (s), the pressure temperature and density in
tropospheres of arctic minimum and tropical
maximum can be obtained using Eqs. (2.4), (2.6)
and (2.7) . Equation (2.10) gives pressure and
density in stratosphere (see also exercise 2.1) .
(b) Some airlines/ air forces may prescribe
intermediate values of sea level temperature e.g.
ISA +150C or ISA +200C. The variations of
pressure , temperature and density with altitude 25
can be worked out from the aforesaid equations.
ii) Stability of atmosphere:
We generally assume that the air mass is
stationary . However some packets of air mass
may acquire motion due to local changes. For
example due to absorption of heat, from sun , by
the earth’s surface, an air mass adjacent to the
surface may become lighter and buoyancy may
cause it to rise. If the atmosphere is stable , a
rising packet of air must come back to its original
position. On the other hand if the air packet
remains in the disturbed position, then the
atmosphere is neutrally stable. If the rising
packet continue to move up then the atmosphere
is unstable . 26
 Reference 1.5 , chapter 3 analyses the problem
of atmospheric stability and concludes that if the
temperature lapse rate is less than 9.75 K per
km, then the atmosphere is stable. It is seen that
the three atmospheres, representing different
conditions , shown in Fig.2.3 are stable.
iii) Geopotential altitude
The variations of pressure , temperature and
density in the atmosphere were obtained by
using the hydrostatic equation (Eq.2.2)

dp
= −ρ g
dh
27
In this equation ‘g’ is assumed to be constant.
However we know that ‘g’ decreases with
altitude. Equation (1.1) gives the variation as
R
g = g0 ( )
R+h
where ‘R’ is the radius of earth and ‘h’ is the
altitude above earth’s surface.
If this variation of ‘g’ is takes into account , then
the values of pressure and density obtained
earlier (with g=g0) would occur at a slightly
lower height which is called geopotential altitude.
It is defined as the height above earth’s surface
in units, proportional to the potential energy of 28
unit mass (geopotential) relative to sea level (see
Ref.2.1) . Reference 1.4 chapter 1 shows that the
geopotential altitude (hg) is given, in terms of
geometric altitude (h), by the following relation.
Rh
hg = (2.13)
R+h
The actual difference between h and hg is small
for altitudes involved in flight mechanics; for h of
20 km , hg would be 19.942 km. Hence the
difference is ignored.

29
Reference

2.1 Gunston , B , “The Cambridge aerospace

dictionary” Cambridge university press (2004).

30
Exercises
2.1 On a certain day the pressure at sea level is
758 mm of mercury (101059 N/m2) and the
temperature is 250C. The temperature is found to
fall linearly with height to -55OC at 12km and after
that it remains constant. Calculate the pressure,
density and kinematic viscosity at 8km and 16km
altitude.
[Answer:
p8 = 36,812 N/m2, ρ8 =0.5238 kg/m3,
ν8 = 3.002 x 10-5 m2/sec,
p16 = 10897 N/m2, ρ16 =0.1740 kg/m3,
ν16 = 8.218 x 10-5 m2/sec] 31
2.2 If the altimeter in an airplane reads 5000m, an
the day described in exercise 2.1, what is the
altitude of airplane above mean sea level? What
would be the indicated altitude after landing on an
aerodrome at sea level?
(Hint: An altimeter is an instrument which senses
the ambient pressure and indicates height in ISA
corresponding to that pressure. It does not read
correct altitude when the atmospheric conditions
differ from ISA. To solve this exercise, obtain the
pressure corresponding to 5000m altitude in ISA.
Then find the altitude corresponding to this
pressure in the atmospheric conditions prevailing
as in exercise 2.1. As regards the second part of32
this exercise, the pressure at the sea level on
that day is 101059 N/m2. When the airplane
lands at sea level, the altimeter would indicate
altitude, in ISA, corresponding to this pressure.
In actual practice the air traffic control would
inform the pilot about the local ambient pressure
and the pilot would adjust zero reading of his
altimeter.)
[Answers: 5152 m, 22.3 m].
2.3 An altimeter calibrated according to ISA reads
an altitude of 3,600m.If the ambient temperature
is –6o C, calculate the ambient density.
[Answer: 0.86 kg/m3]
33
2.4 During flight test for climb performance the
following readings were observed at two altitudes:
Record Number 1 2
Indicate altitude (m) 1,300 1,600
Ambient Temperature (0C) 16 14
The altimeter is calibrated according to ISA.
Obtain the true difference of height between the
two indicated altitudes.
(Hint: Note that the ambient temperatures are
different from those in ISA at 1300 and 1600 m
altitudes. Hence the actual altitudes are different
from ISA values. To get the difference between
these two altitudes(∆h), obtain pressures at 1300
34
 and 1600 m heights in ISA. Let the difference in
pressures be ∆p. Calculate density at the two
altitudes using corresponding pressures and
temperature. Take average of the two densities
(ρavg). Using eq.(2.2)
∆h ≈ -∆p / {ρavg x g}. )

[Answer: 312m]
Remark :
The difference between the actual altitudes
(312m) and the indicated altitudes (300 m) is small.
Since altimeters of all the airplanes are calibrated
using ISA, the difference between indicated altitudes
and actual altitudes of two airplanes will be small. To
35
take care of any uncertainties the flight paths of two
airplanes are separated by several hundred meters.
However With the availability of Global Positioning
System (GPS) the separation between two airplanes
can be reduced.

2.5 A light airplane is flying at a speed of 220 kmph

at an altitude of 3.2km. Assuming ISA conditions
and the mean chord of the wing to be 1.5m, obtain
the flight Mach number and Reynolds number.

[Answer: Re = 4.83 x 106, M = 0.186]

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Table 2.1 Properties of Standard Atmosphere 37
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