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National Space Science Data Center      Dieter Bilitza          July 1990 
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NAME:	     COSPAR International Reference Atmosphere 1986, 0 - 120 km

SCIENTIFIC CONTACT:	J.J. Barnett, Department of Atmospheric Physics
			Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford, U.K.

TECHNICAL CONTACT:	Eric L. Fleming, Applied Research Corporation
			Landover, MD 20785

NSSDC CONTACT:		D. Bilitza, GSFC/NSSDC code 632, Greenbelt,
     			MD 20771, bilitza@gsfc.nasa.gov

FILES:  13 files                                              bytes
   Parameter tables varying in log(pressure) coordinates:
	Temperature, Annual Mean, Northern H. nhant.lsn       63096
	Temperature, Annual Mean, Southern H. shant.lsn       63089
	Wind, Annual Mean, Northern H.        nhanw.lsn       63097
	Wind, Annual Mean, Southern H.        shanw.lsn       63090
	Geop. Height, Annual Mean, North. H.  nhanz.lsn       79684
	Temperature, Northern Hemisphere	nht.lsn	     107748
	Temperature, Southern Hemisphere	sht.lsn	     107736
	Wind, Northern Hemisphere		nhw.lsn	     107748
	Wind, Southern Hemisphere		shw.lsn	     107736
	Geopotential Height, Northern Hemisph.	nhz.lsn	     116256
	Geopotential Height, Southern Hemisph.	shz.lsn      116244
   Parameter tables varying in height coordinates:
	Temp., Wind, Pressure 			twp.lsn      120803
	This File			   aareadme.txt        5130

	All files are in ASCII format

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:

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-
annual 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 also 
available from NSSDC (MI-91E). 

The lower part (0-120 km) of CIRA-86 consists of tables of the monthly 
mean values of temperature and zonal wind with almost global coverage 
(80N - 80S). Two sets of files were compiled, 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.

This data set is a corrected version of the orginal CIRA data files as
provided by J. Barnett (July 1990) in ASCII format.

----------------------------- REFERENCES --------------------------------

CIRA 1972, A.C. Strickland (ed.), Akademie Verlag, Berlin, G.D.R., 1972

CIRA 1986, D. Rees (ed.), Advances in Space Research, Volume 8, Number
5-6, 1988

A.H. Oort, Global Atmospheric Circulation Statistics 1958-1983, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Professional Paper 14, 180 pp,
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1983

K. Labitzke, J.J. Barnett, and B. Edwards (eds.), Middle Atmosphere Program,
MAP Handbook, Volume 16, University of Illinois, Urbana, 1985

K. Rawer, C.M. Minnis, K.S.W. Champion, and M. Roemer (eds.), Models of 
the Atmosphere and Ionosphere, Advances in Space Research, Volume 5,
Number 7, 1985

K.U. Grossmann, K.S.W. Champion, M. Roemer, W.L. Oliver, and T.A. Blix
(eds.), The Earth's Middle and Upper Atmosphere, Advances in Space 
Research, Volume 7, Number 10, 1987

E.L. Fleming, S. Chandra, M.R. Shoeberl, and J.J. Barnett, Monthly mean
global climatology of temperature, wind, geopotential height and pressure
for 0-120 km, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Technical
Memorandum 100697, Washington, D.C., 1988
 
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National Space Science Data Center      Dieter Bilitza           July 1990 
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