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| atmospheric pressure | |
|---|---|
| Name | Atmospheric pressure |
| Unit | pascal (Pa) |
| Typical | 101325 Pa |
atmospheric pressure Atmospheric pressure is the force per unit area exerted by the weight of the atmosphere on a surface; it is central to Isaac Newton's mechanics, James Clerk Maxwell's kinetic theory implications, and practical work by Blaise Pascal and Evangelista Torricelli. Atmospheric pressure underpins observations by explorers such as Roald Amundsen and Sir Edmund Hillary, informs engineering by firms like Siemens and General Electric, and is fundamental to instruments developed at institutions including the Royal Society and the Académie des sciences.
Atmospheric pressure is defined as force per unit area with SI unit the International System of Units pascal, historically related to the millimeter of mercury used by Evangelista Torricelli and standardized during metrology efforts by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and work at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The mean sea-level value (standard atmosphere) is 101325 Pa and is often cited alongside non-SI units such as the bar adopted in Treaty of the Meter-era conventions and the pound-force per square inch used in United States engineering. Precise conversion and calibration practices follow guidelines from International Organization for Standardization and were shaped by committees within the Royal Society and the Académie des sciences.
Vertical variation in atmospheric pressure arises from the hydrostatic balance described in texts by Leonhard Euler and developed in atmospheric science programs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Cambridge; pressure decreases roughly exponentially with altitude following scale height theory connected to Ludwig Boltzmann and James Clerk Maxwell. The distribution of pressure with height is influenced by temperature profiles analyzed in research at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and National Aeronautics and Space Administration studies, as well as gravity measured from campaigns by Cavendish-inspired experiments and satellite missions such as GRACE and Envisat. Local topography effects studied in the United States Geological Survey and the British Geological Survey alter vertical pressure gradients, with mountain meteorology explored by mountaineers like Anatoli Boukreev and researchers at University of British Columbia.
Measurement historically used mercury barometers invented by Evangelista Torricelli and refined by instrument makers working with the Royal Society and Académie des sciences; aneroid barometers were later developed by innovators linked to workshops in Paris and London. Modern pressure sensors include strain-gauge transducers produced by corporations such as Honeywell and Bosch and resonant silicon devices advanced at Bell Labs and IBM Research; calibration is performed against standards at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt. Radiosondes launched by agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts provide vertical pressure profiles used in forecasting at centers such as Met Office and ECMWF.
Pressure gradients drive winds described in foundational work by Vilhelm Bjerknes and operational forecasting frameworks at National Weather Service and Japan Meteorological Agency; cyclones and anticyclones classified in synoptic charts created by the Met Office and Météo-France arise from pressure distributions influenced by oceanic oscillations studied by Warren Washington and Syukuro Manabe. Large-scale climate patterns such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation modulate pressure fields observed by satellites from NOAA and European Space Agency, affecting storm tracks analyzed in studies from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Atmospheric pressure interacts with radiative forcing concepts advanced by Svante Arrhenius and John Tyndall, linking pressure-dependent lapse rates to work at Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments.
Variations in pressure affect human physiology documented in studies at Harvard Medical School and Mayo Clinic relating to hypoxia experienced by climbers like Reinhold Messner and Edmund Hillary; decompression and barotrauma are central to protocols developed by United States Navy diving medicine and hyperbaric facilities such as those at Duke University. Aviation operations regulated by Federal Aviation Administration and International Civil Aviation Organization depend on pressure altitude concepts applied in aircraft design at Boeing and Airbus, while deep-sea and submarine systems from Royal Navy and United States Navy use complementary pressure engineering principles. Agricultural and ecological impacts of pressure-linked weather events are studied by institutions like Food and Agriculture Organization and United Nations Environment Programme.
Key milestones include Torricelli's 1643 mercury experiments reported to the Accademia dei Lincei, Pascal's barometric campaigns across France and mountain ascents involving correspondents at the Académie des sciences, and Blaise Pascal's correspondence with Pierre de Fermat and others that linked pressure to altitude effects. The 19th century saw formalization of hydrostatic and thermodynamic foundations by Daniel Bernoulli, Joseph Fourier, and Ludwig Boltzmann, with instrument refinements by makers in London and Paris and international standardization driven by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. Twentieth-century advances in radiosondes, satellites from NASA and European Space Agency, and numerical weather prediction pioneered at Met Office and Princeton University transformed understanding and operational use of pressure in science and society.
Category:Atmospheric physics