COSPAR International Reference Atmosphere from NSSDC

The COSPAR International Reference Atmosphere (CIRA) provides
empirical models of atmospheric temperature and densities as
recommended by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). Since the
early sixties different editions of CIRA have been published. The CIRA
Working Group meets bi- annually during the COSPAR general assemblies.

CIRA-86 is described in Advances in Space Research, Volume 8, Numbers
5-6, 1988; a more extensive report will be published as MAP
Handbook. In the thermosphere (above about 100 km) CIRA-86 is
identical with the MSIS model which is described in a separate MD
entry. The lower part (0-120 km) consists of tables of the monthly
mean values of temperature and zonal wind with almost global coverage
(80N - 80S). Two files exist, one in pressure coordinates including
also the geopotential heights, and one in height coordinates including
also the pressure values. These tables were generated from several
global data compilations including ground-based and satellite (Nimbus
5,6,7) measurements: Oort (1983), Labitzke et al. (1985). The lower
part was merged with MSIS-86 at 120 km altitude. In general,
hydrostatic and thermal wind balance are maintained at all levels.
The model accurately reproduces most of the characteristic features of
the atmosphere such as the equatorial wind and the general structure
of the tropopause, stratopause, and mesopause.

The CIRA-86 tables are available from NSSDC on diskette (5 1/4 or 3
1/2 inch) and online over NSI/DECNET.

This data set is also available via anonymous FTP.
FTP to nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov.
Login: anonymous, Password: your email address.
CD /pub/models/atmospheric/cira/.