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An altimeter or an altitude meter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level. [1] The measurement of altitude is called altimetry , which is related to the term bathymetry , the measurement of depth under water.
When flying at a flight level, the altimeter is always set to standard pressure (29.92 inHg or 1013.25 hPa). On the flight deck, the definitive instrument for measuring altitude is the pressure altimeter, which is an aneroid barometer with a front face indicating distance (feet or metres) instead of atmospheric pressure.
Typical usages are as a basis for pressure altimeter calibrations, aircraft performance calculations, aircraft and rocket design, ballistic tables, and meteorological diagrams." [1] For example, the U.S. Standard Atmosphere derives the values for air temperature, pressure, and mass density, as a function of altitude above sea level.
Q1020 indicates the current altimeter setting (in QNH) is 1,020 hPa (30.12 inHg). NOSIG is an example of a TREND forecast which is appended to METARs at stations while a forecaster is on watch. NOSIG means that no significant change is expected to the reported conditions within the next 2 hours.
A barometric altimeter, used along with a topographic map, can help to verify one's location. It is more reliable, and often more accurate, than a GPS receiver for measuring altitude; the GPS signal may be unavailable, for example, when one is deep in a canyon, or it may give wildly inaccurate altitudes when all available satellites are near the horizon.
It indicates altitude obtained when an altimeter is set to an agreed baseline pressure under certain circumstances in which the aircraft’s altimeter would be unable to give a useful altitude readout. Examples would be landing at a high altitude or near sea level under conditions of exceptionally high air pressure.
SPS/STD - 'Standard Pressure Setting' or just 'Standard' refers to the altimeter being set to the standard pressure of 1013.25 hPa. It is the setting that causes an altimeter to read the aircraft's flight level (FL). Flight levels are given in hundreds of feet (for example: FL100 = 10 000 ft). Atmospheric pressure changes over time and position.
The altimeter, which is usually a barometer calibrated in units of distance instead of atmospheric pressure, can therefore be set in such a way as to indicate the height of the aircraft above ground. This is done by communicating with the control tower of the airport (to get the current surface pressure) and setting the altimeter so as to read ...