Air density is a result of the relationship between temperature and pressure. This relationship is such that density is inversely related to temperature and directly related to pressure. For a constant pressure to be maintained as temperature increases, density must decrease, and vice versa. These relationships provide basis of understanding instrument indications and aircraft performance.
Standard Atmosphere
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) established the ICAO Standard Atmosphere as a way of creating an international standard for reference and computations. Instrument indications and aircraft performance specifications are derived using this standard as a reference. Because the standard atmosphere is a derived set of conditions that rarely exist in reality, pilots need to understand how deviations from the standard affect both instrument indications and aircraft performance.
In the standard atmosphere, sea level pressure is 29.92" Hg and the temperature is 15oC or 59oF. The standard lapse rate for pressure is approximately a 1" Hg decrease per 1000 feet increase in altitude. The Standard lapse rate for temperature is a 2 oC (3,6 oF) decrease per 1000 feet increase, up to the tropopause. Since all aircraft performance is compared and evaluated in the environment of the standard atmosphere, all aircraft performance instrumentation is calibrated for the standard atmosphere. Because the actual operating conditions rarely, if ever, fit the standard atmosphere, certain corrections must apply to the instrumentation and aircraft performance.
Taken from FAA Instrument Flying Handbook










