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The units of atmospheric pressure commonly used in meteorology were formerly the bar (100,000 Pa), which is close to the average air pressure on Earth, and the millibar. Since the introduction of SI units, meteorologists generally measure atmospheric pressure in hectopascals (hPa), equal to 100 pascals or 1 millibar.
Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth.The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as 101,325 Pa (1,013.25 hPa), which is equivalent to 1,013.25 millibars, [1] 760 mm Hg, 29.9212 inches Hg, or 14.696 psi. [2]
Old altimeters were typically limited to displaying the altitude when set between 950 mb and 1030 mb. Standard pressure, the baseline used universally, is 1013.25 hectopascals (hPa), which is equivalent to 1013.25 mb or 29.92 inches of mercury (inHg). This setting is equivalent to the atmospheric pressure at mean sea level (MSL) in the ISA
Some meteorologists prefer the hectopascal (hPa) for atmospheric air pressure, which is equivalent to the older unit millibar (mbar). Similar pressures are given in kilopascals (kPa) in most other fields, except aviation where the hecto- prefix is commonly used. The inch of mercury is still used in the United States.
Standard air pressures are 850, 700, 500, 400, 300, 250, and 200 millibars (hectopascals) . Weather charts are sometimes drawn at lower air pressures that occur above 40,000 feet (12 km). The lines of equal air pressure are called isobars. Isotherms are the lines of equal air temperature.
Above the TA, the aircraft altimeter pressure setting is changed to the standard pressure setting of 1013 hectopascals (equivalent to millibars) or 29.92 inches of mercury, with the aircraft altitude will be stated as a flight level instead of altitude. In the United States and Canada, the transition altitude is 18,000 ft (5,500 m). [5]
Aircraft altimeters measure the relative pressure difference between the lower ambient pressure at altitude and a calibrated reading on the ground. In the United States, Canada [2] and Japan, these altimeter readings are provided in inches of mercury, but most other nations use hectopascals.
On the top right corner of the model for a surface weather map is the pressure, showing the last two integer digits of the pressure in millibars, or hectopascals, along with the first decimal. For instance, if the pressure at a certain location is 999.7 hPa, the pressure portion of the station model will read 997.