Asphyxiant gas can smell the odorants, and assigning a different smell to each gas may be impractical. Another difficulty is that most odorants (e.g., the thiols) are chemically reactive. This is not a problem with natural gas intended to be burned as fuel, which is routinely odorized, but a major use of asphyxiants such as nitrogen, helium, argon and krypton is to protect reactive materials from the atmosphere. The dangers of excess concentrations of nontoxic gases has been recognized for centuries within the mining industry. The concept of black damp (or "stythe") reflects an understanding that certain gaseous mixtures could lead to
Jacchia Reference Atmosphere Jacchia Reference Atmosphere The Jacchia Reference Atmosphere is a reference atmospheric model that defines values for atmospheric temperature, density, pressure and other properties at altitudes from 90 to 2500 km. Unlike the more common US Standard Atmosphere and related models, the Jacchia model includes latitudinal, seasonal, geomagnetic, and solar effects, but must be supplemented with another model at lower altitudes. The model, first published in 1970 and updated in 1971 and 1977, is based on spacecraft drag data, and is primarily used in spacecraft modeling and related fields. A common assumption while using the Jacchia Model is that the atmosphere