Synoptic and climatological density profiles from constant pressure surfaces for ballistic computations / Norman Sissenwine [and others]
The influence of atmospheric density on ballistic trajectories of re-entry vehicles usually attains a maximum below 20 kilometers. The most direct and accurate means of estimating this influence is from profiles of density specified at uniform intervals of altitude (usually 2 km) from individual sou...
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| Format: | Government Document Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Bedford, Mass. :
Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, Air Force Systems Command, United States Air Force,
1971.
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| Series: | Air Force surveys in geophysics ;
no. 232. AFCRL ; 71-186. |
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| Summary: | The influence of atmospheric density on ballistic trajectories of re-entry vehicles usually attains a maximum below 20 kilometers. The most direct and accurate means of estimating this influence is from profiles of density specified at uniform intervals of altitude (usually 2 km) from individual soundings for the time and over the area of re-entry. Unfortunately, vertical distances between levels on constant pressure charts, normally available for obtaining density profiles, are generally greater than 2 kilometers. Unless interpolation between these pressure surfaces for obtaining densities at the 2-km intervals is based on the actual density-altitude relation, the interpolated densities will be in error. Three often-used methods of interpolation are: (1) assumption of a linear decrease of density with altitude, (2) assumption of a linear decrease of the logarithm of density with altitude, and (3) assumption of a linear decrease of density multipliers with altitude, where a density multiplier at the altitude of a constant pressure surface represents the ratio of density to the Standard Atmosphere density at that altitude. The three methods with resultant errors are discussed and evaluated in this report. (Author) |
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| Item Description: | "4 March 1971." AD0726994 (from http://www.dtic.mil) Other authors listed on title page: Allen E. Cole, Henry A. Salmela, Arthur J. Kantor. Aeronomy Laboratory Project 8624. Research supported by the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, Air Force Systems Command, United States Air Force, L.G. Hanscom Field, Bedford, Massachusetts. |
| Physical Description: | vii, 31 pages : illustrations ; 29 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (page 31) |