Flight Vehicle Dynamics and Stability

EAE 4240

Dr. Mohammad Alakhras

The Standard Atmosphere
DEFINITION OF ALTITUDE

Altitude: it as the distance above the ground

Absolute altitude ha
Geometric altitude hG

If r is the radius of the

earth, then ha hGr
DEFINITION OF ALTITUDE
The absolute altitude is important, especially for
space flight, because the local acceleration of
gravity g varies with ha
HYDROSTATIC EQUATION
• Variations of p , ρ , and T as functions of altitude.
• Element with rectangular faces, where the top and
bottom faces have sides of unit length and the side
faces have an small height dhG .
• On bottom face, the pressure is p, which gives
upward force of p1
HYDROSTATIC EQUATION
• The top face is higher in altitude (by the distance dhG); and
because pressure varies with altitude, the pressure on the
top face will differ from that on the bottom face by dp .
• On the top face the pressure is pdp and downward force
(pdp)(1)(1))
HYDROSTATIC EQUATION
• the volume of the fluid element is (1)(1) dhG dhG ;
• the mass of the fluid element is simply ρ(1)(1) dh ρ dh .
G G

• the weight of the fluid element is g ρ dh ,

G

• The three forces; pressure forces on the top and bottom,

and the weight—must balance because the fluid element is
not moving.
HYDROSTATIC EQUATION
• Assume that g is constant throughout the
atmosphere and equals to its value at sea level g0 .
So we have:

Where altitude h is called the geopotential altitude

and differs from the geometric altitude.

•Dividing the two equation we get:

HYDROSTATIC EQUATION
• If g0 and g are different, dh and dh must be
G

different

• The numerical values of h and h correspond

G

to the same actual physical location in the

atmosphere and are different values.

• geopotential altitude is a fictitious altitude

that is physically compatible with the
assumption of gg0const.
HYDROSTATIC EQUATION
Historically, measurements of the atmospheric
properties were based on the assumption of constant
acceleration of gravity giving rise to the definition of
Geopotential Altitude.
Geopotential Altitude (h):
Distance from surface of Earth (sea level) to location
where pressure is equal to local atmospheric pressure
assuming the acceleration of gravity is fixed at sea-
level value.
g < g0
g = g0
hG h
(geometric altitude) (geopotential altitude)

Sea level
RELATION BETWEEN GEOPOTENTIAL AND
GEOMETRIC ALTITUDES
• we need to relate h to hG , as follows

• By substituting we get
RELATION BETWEEN GEOPOTENTIAL AND
GEOMETRIC ALTITUDES
• Integrating between sea level and the given
point, we have
RELATION BETWEEN GEOPOTENTIAL AND
GEOMETRIC ALTITUDES

• there is little difference between h and h for low altitudes.

G

• Using numbers, r 6356766 m (at a latitude of 45°), and

if h 7 km (about 23,000 ft), then the corresponding
G

value of h is h6.9923 km, about 0.1% difference! Only

at altitudes above 65 km (213,000 ft) does the difference
exceed 1 percent.

(Note that 65 km is an altitude at which aerodynamic heating

of NASA’s Space Shuttle becomes important during
reentry into the earth’s atmosphere from space.)
DEFINITION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE
DEFINITION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE
Among the layers of the atmosphere, the troposphere
and stratosphere are primarily important to
atmospheric flight, since all aircraft fly in these regions.
DEFINITION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE

Earth is not a perfect sphere; it is obtate at the poles

and bulge at the equator.
Therefore, the troposphere layer is thinner at the poles
(~ 10 km) and thicker at the equator (~ 20 km).
12,712.6 km

12,756.28 km
DEFINITION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE
• The variation of T
with altitude
• It consists of a series
of straight lines,
• Vertical Lines
(constant-
temperature, or
isothermal, regions)
• Inclined lines
(gradient regions).
DEFINITION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE

Divide by the
equation of state, we
get
DEFINITION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE
• The temperature, pressure, and density at the base
of the isothermal layer are T , p , and ρ ,
1 1 1

respectively as shown
• We can obtain the pressure p at h by integration
between h and h and assume g g const:
1 0
DEFINITION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE
DEFINITION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE
• Considering the gradient layers, we find that
the temperature variation is linear and is
geometrically given as
 DEFINITION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE
• a is a specified constant for each layer . The
value of a is sometimes called the lapse rate
for the gradient layers:
DEFINITION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE

• substitute this result into

we get:

• Solve by Integration between the base of the

gradient layer and some point at altitude h
DEFINITION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE
• Integrate between the base of the gradient
layer and some point at altitude h (within
gradient layer) yields
DEFINITION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE
• From the equation of state,

• We get:
 DEFINITION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE

• The variation of T is linear with altitude and

is given by:

• The standard sea level values of pressure,

density, and temperature are
Example:
Calculate the standard atmosphere values of T,
p, and ρ at a geopotential altitude of 14 km.

From the figure

and at h 14 km,
 T 216.66K
Solution:
from h 0 to h 11.0 km. The lapse rate is

The base of the region is sea level (hence

p11.01x105 N/m2 and ρ11.23 kg/m3 ), so at
h11.0 km, we get
Solution:

where g 9.8 m/s2 in SI units.

0

Hence p (at h1.0km)2.26x104 N/m2.

Solution:
Now p1 2.26x104 N/m2 and ρ1 0.367 kg/m3 .
For h 14 km, h − h1 14 − 11 3 km 3000 m, so
Summary:
the following lists some of the major ideas
discussed

1.The standard atmosphere is defined in order

to relate flight tests, wind tunnel results, and
general airplane design and performance to a
common reference.
 Summary:
1.The definitions of the standard atmospheric
properties are based on a given temperature
variation with altitude, representing a mean
of experimental data. In turn, the pressure
and density variations with altitude are
obtained from this empirical temperature
variation by using the laws of physics. One of
these laws is the hydrostatic equation:
 Summary:
3. In the isothermal regions of the standard
atmosphere, the pressure and density
variations are given by
Summary:
4. In the gradient regions of the standard
atmosphere, the pressure and density
variations are given by, respectively,

where T=T1+a(h−h1) and a is the lapse rate.

Summary:
• The pressure altitude is that altitude in the
standard atmosphere that corresponds to the
actual ambient pressure encountered in flight
or laboratory experiments.
• For example, if the ambient pressure of a
flow, no matter where it is or what it is
doing, is 393.12 lb/ft2 , the flow is said to
correspond to a pressure altitude of 40,000 ft
• The same idea can be used to define density
and temperature altitudes.