Standards for the tropical Indian atmosphere

Abstract

The paper proposes aerospace standards for Indian tropical atmospheres up to altitudes of 20 km. Indian Meteorological Department balloon and rocket data for 16 stations were compared with Standard Atmosphere Data for Asian Tropics showing that annual mean ground level temperatures of 12 C near the Himalayan range should be excluded in determining a standard tropical atmosphere for India. A standard with a sea level temperature of 30 C and a lapse rate of 6.5 C/km was proposed up to the altitude of 16 km; a standard with a sea level temperature of 27 C and a lapse rate of 6 C/km was suggested up to 6 km. It was concluded that appropriate extremes for India should be 40 C and 5 C.