The term standard day is used throughout meteorology, aviation, and other sciences and disciplines as a way of defining certain properties of the atmosphere in a manner which allows those who use our atmosphere to effectively calculate and communicate its properties at any given time. For example, a temperature deviation of +8 °C means that the air at any given altitude is 8 °C (14 °F) warmer than what standard day conditions and the measurement altitude would predict, and would indicate a higher density altitude. These variations are extremely important to both meteorologists and aviators, as they strongly determine the different properties of the atmosphere.
For example, on a cool day, an airliner might have no problem safely departing a medium-altitude runway, but on a warmer day, the density altitude might require a higher true airspeed, which would require more acceleration, and more runway. The pilot may be forced to reduce fuel or cargo, or even add an intermediate fuel stop, delaying the flight arrival time. In meteorology, departure from standard day conditions is what gives rise to all weather phenomena, including thunderstorms, fronts, clouds, even the heating and cooling of our planet.
Read more about Standard Day: Standard Day Parameters
Famous quotes containing the words standard and/or day:
“An indirect quotation we can usually expect to rate only as better or worse, more or less faithful, and we cannot even hope for a strict standard of more and less; what is involved is evaluation, relative to special purposes, of an essentially dramatic act.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“Until the day when, your endurance gone, in this world for you without arms, you catch up in yours the first mangy cur you meet, carry it for the time needed for it to love it and you it, then throw it away.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)