1

I am working with a program that I want to inform the atmospheric pressure level at atm and if the pressure is high, low or average in a certain location, but I have not found anywhere on the internet that can give me an idea of how to calculate this. Could anyone tell me at what level of atmospheric pressure it can be considered low or high? is there any specific point? Do I need some more information to calculate this?

Fred
  • 24,658
  • 5
  • 52
  • 94
Wardy Guardian
  • 113
  • 4
  • 2
    If you are looking for an absolute high low or average it is not there. You simply plot all the points on a map and look at the lowest for a particular area (can be fairly large or small). Then look in that area for the highest and lowest –  Dec 02 '20 at 07:34
  • 2
    The effects of pressure will be dictated by relative, rather than absolute, pressure. An area at 1.1 atm might be a high pressure zone if it's next to a region that's at 1.0 atm, but it would be a low pressure zone if it's next to a region at 1.2 atm. This is why a barometer is typically described as rising or falling (describing relative changes in pressure), rather than simply reporting the numerical value of the pressure in isolation. – Nuclear Hoagie Dec 02 '20 at 17:19

1 Answers1

3

Usually when you hear someone say "high" or "low" pressure, it is an abbreviated way of saying "local maxima" or "local minima." And usually that pressure is the Mean Sea Level Pressure. By that definition, it is a singular point. But if you want to cover an area, you can probably reference a gridded dataset and plot the isobars. Then you can categorize the isobars as cyclonic (low pressure in Northern Hemisphere) or anticyclonic (high pressure in Northern Hemisphere). Then you can say if the location is enclosed in either, then it is in the respective area. You can make it however complex you want.

But if you want to create your own "pressure climatology" then you can probably do what you want to do.

BarocliniCplusplus
  • 8,799
  • 16
  • 42