Atmospheric pressure is the pressure exerted by the weight of air in the atmosphere of Earth (or

that of another planet). In most circumstances atmospheric pressure is closely approximated by

the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above the measurement point. On a given
plane, low-pressure areas have less atmospheric mass above their location, whereas high-pressure
areas have more atmospheric mass above their location. Likewise, as elevation increases, there is
less overlying atmospheric mass, so that atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing elevation.
On average, a column of air one square centimeter in cross-section, measured from sea level to the
top of the atmosphere, has a mass of about 1.03 kg and weight of about 10.1 N (2.28 lbf). (A column
one square inch in cross-section would have a weight of about 14.7 lbs, or about 65.4 N.)
Atmospheric pressure is sometimes called barometric pressure.
Contents
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1Standard atmosphere
2Mean sea level pressure
3Altitude variation
4Local variation
5Records
6Measurement based on depth of water
7Boiling point of water
8Measurement and maps
9See also
10References
11External links
o 11.1Experiments

Standard atmosphere[edit]
The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure equal to 101325 Pa[1] or
1013.25 hectopascals or millibars. Equivalent to 760 mmHg (torr), 29.92 inHg, 14.696 psi. (The
pascal is a newton per square meter or in terms of SI base units, kilogram per meter per secondsquared.)

Mean sea level pressure[edit]

15 year average mean sea level pressure for June, July, and August (top) and December, January, and
February (bottom). ERA-15 re-analysis.

Kollsman-type barometric aircraftaltimeter (as used in North America) displaying an altitude of 80 ft (24 m).

The mean sea level pressure (MSLP) is the atmospheric pressure at sea level or (when measured at
a given elevation on land) the station pressure adjusted to sea level assuming that the temperature
falls at a lapse rate of 6.5 K per km in the fictive layer of air between the station and sea level.
This is the atmospheric pressure normally given in weather reports on radio, television, and
newspapers or on the Internet. Whenbarometers in the home are set to match the local weather
reports, they measure pressure adjusted to sea level, not the actual local atmospheric pressure.
The altimeter setting in aviation, set to either QNH or QFE setting, is another atmospheric pressure
adjustment, but the methods of making these adjustments are different:

QNH is the barometric altimeter setting that causes an altimeter to read airfield elevation above
mean sea level when on the airfield. In ISA temperature conditions the altimeter will read altitude
above mean sea level in the vicinity of the airfield.

QFE is the barometric altimeter setting that causes an altimeter to read zero when at the
reference datum of a particular airfield (in practice, the reference datum is either an airfield
center or a runway threshold). In ISA temperature conditions the altimeter will read height above
the airfield/runway threshold in the vicinity of the airfield.

QFE and QNH are arbitrary Q codes rather than abbreviations, but the mnemonics "nautical height"
(for QNH) and "field elevation" (for QFE) are often used by pilots to distinguish them.
Average sea-level pressure is 101.325 kPa (1013.25 hPa or mbar) or 29.92 inches (inHg) or 760
millimetres of mercury (mmHg). In aviation weather reports (METAR), QNH is transmitted around the
world in hectopascals or millibars (1 hectopascal = 1 millibar), except in the United States, Canada,
and Colombia where it is reported in inches (to two decimal places) of mercury. (The United States
and Canada also report sea level pressure SLP, which is adjusted to sea level by a different method,
in the remarks section, not in the internationally transmitted part of the code, in hectopascals or
millibars.[2] However, in Canada's public weather reports, sea level pressure is instead reported in
kilopascals,[3] while Environment Canada's standard unit of pressure is the hectopascal (hPa).[4][5])
In the US weather code remarks, three digits are all that are transmitted; decimal points and the one
or two most significant digits are omitted: 1013.2 mbar or 101.32 kPa is transmitted as 132; 1000.0
mbar or 100.00 kPa is transmitted as 000; 998.7 mbar or 99.87 kPa is transmitted as 987; etc. The
highest sea-level pressure on Earth occurs in Siberia, where the Siberian High often attains a sealevel pressure above 1050.0 mbar (105.00 kPa, 30.01 inHg), with record highs close to 1085.0 mbar
(108.50 kPa, 32.04 inHg). The lowest measurable sea-level pressure is found at the centers
of tropical cyclones and tornadoes, with a record low of 870 mbar (87 kPa, 25.69 inHg)
(see Atmospheric pressure records).

Altitude variation[edit]

A very local storm above Snfellsjkull, showing clouds formed on the mountain by orographic lift

Variation in atmospheric pressure with altitude, computed for 15 C and 0% relative humidity.

This plastic bottle was sealed at approximately 14,000 feet (4,300 m) altitude, and was crushed by the increase
in atmospheric pressure at 9,000 feet (2,700 m) and 1,000 feet (300 m) as it was brought down towards
sea level.

Pressure varies smoothly from the Earth's surface to the top of the mesosphere. Although the
pressure changes with the weather, NASA has averaged the conditions for all parts of the earth
year-round. As altitude increases, atmospheric pressure decreases. One can calculate the
atmospheric pressure at a given altitude.[6]Temperature and humidity also affect the atmospheric
pressure, and it is necessary to know these to compute an accurate figure. The graph at right was
developed for a temperature of 15 C and a relative humidity of 0%.
At low altitudes above the sea level, the pressure decreases by about 1.2 kPa for every 100 meters.
For higher altitudes within the troposphere, the following equation (the barometric formula) relates
atmospheric pressure p to altitude h

where the constant parameters are as described below:

Parameter

Description

Value

p0

sea level standard atmospheric pressure

101325 Pa

temperature lapse rate, = g/cp for dry air

0.0065 K/m

cp

constant pressure specific heat

~ 1007 J/(kgK)

T0

sea level standard temperature

288.15 K

Earth-surface gravitational acceleration

9.80665 m/s2

molar mass of dry air

0.0289644 kg/mol

universal gas constant

8.31447 J/(molK)