The 6 model atmospheres in MODTRAN^® differ most significantly in their temperature profiles, and in their H₂O and O₃ profiles. The temperature profiles are illustrated in Figure 1. Not surprisingly, the Sub-Arctic Winter Atmosphere has the coolest surface temperature; the Mid-Latitude Winter Atmosphere has the next coolest surface temperature. The Tropical and Mid-Latitude Summer Atmospheres have the warmest surface temperatures. At the tropopause, the temperature of the Tropical Atmosphere is the coolest and the temperature of the Sub-Arctic Summer Atmosphere is the warmest. For all 6 atmospheres, a secondary temperature peak occurs near 50 km; here the Sub-Arctic Summer temperature is the warmest, essentially equal to that of the Mid-Latitude Summer. The Sub-Arctic Winter temperature is the coolest at this altitude. The 1976 U.S. Standard Atmosphere temperature profile provides an effective median for the set of profiles.

Figure 2 contains the density profiles for H₂O and O₃. Total vertical column amounts for the 12 ambient band model species are listed in Table 1; the CO₂ mixing ratio used in creating this table was 380 ppmV. The 6 model atmospheres provide a nice spread of boundary layer and lower tropospheric water densities.