Standard Atmosphere Calculator

This function to determine temperature, pressure, density, and speed of sound as a function of height. Function based on US Standard Atmosphere of 1976. All calculations performed in metric units, but converted to english if the user chooses. Assuming constant gravitational acceleration.

The Function has the form:

function [t, p, rho, a] = atmosphere(height, unit)

Input:

• height (feet or meters) – can be a 1-dimensional vector
• unit – optional; default is metric;
  – boolean, True for english units, False for metric

Output:

• t – Temperature (K (default) or R)
• p – Pressure (pa (default) or psi)
• rho – Density (kg/m^3 (default) or lbm/ft^3)
• a – speed of sound (m/s (default) or ft/s)