The

BAROMETER
HANDBOOK
A Modern Look
at
Barometers and Applications
of
Barometric Pressure

By

David Burch
 Copyright © 2009 by David F. Burch
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

ISBN 978-0-914025-12-2

Published by
Starpath Publications
3050 NW 63rd Street, Seattle, WA 98107
Manufactured in the United States of America
www.starpathpublications.com

Cover design and illustrations by Tobias Burch.

Cover Photo credits:

The mercury barometer is traditional FitzRoy Barometer in oak frame manufactured by
Mason of Dublin in about 1880. Photo compliments of Patrick Marney (www.partick-
marney.co.uk).
The 5-inch antique aneroid barometer was made by Short & Mason of London, and re-
tailed by W. Senter & Co of Portland, Maine in about 1900. Photo compliments of John
Forster (www.barometerfair.com).
The electronic barometer shown is a 2009 prototype for a new model II of the JDB-1
barometer from Conex Electro-Systems in Bellingham WA.
The background image is a seasonal pressure pattern reproduced from the U.S. Navy Ma-
rine Climatic Atlas of the World. The full pressure data from this publication are included
in Chapter 10.

ii
 Preface
Since the first public appearance of barometers some mon types of barometers now in use. In short, there is
three hundred years ago, the barometer has traveled some virtue now in bringing these two paths closer to-
through history along two separate, parallel paths. gether, which is one of the main goals of this book.
There has been the lineage of instrument makers To give an important example, you will hear it
and engineering scientists who focus on how barom- said that the reason the typical mariner is not using a
eters work, how to make and repair them, how to barometer so much these days is because they have so
calibrate them, and how to tell a good one from not many wonderful new weather resources at their finger
so good; and along the other path is the lineage of tips. With a satellite phone and a PC you can be in
barometer users whose focus is on the meaning of at- any ocean in the world and with the push of a button
mospheric pressure and how to use that information have all the winds and pressures immediately plotted
to analyze and forecast the weather. out in front of you. Push another button and you see
what they will look like tomorrow, and the next day,
More often than not, neither group has had a com-
and so on.
pelling interest in the activities of the other group.
Those who know about the instruments care most This very convenient type of data, presented in
about the instruments. They have confidence their in- what is called the GRIB format, are direct outputs
struments will be used well and properly if they make from the super computers of the weather services. It
a good one, without a particular interest in what that is part of the data mentioned above that is getting
use will be. better all the time. But it is not fully dependable yet.
These are not the official forecasts. In fact, this type of
Barometer users, on the other hand, do not often
computerized forecast has not been vetted at all by a
care about the ingenuity or craftsmanship that might
professional meteorologist. Nevertheless, the use of
distinguish one instrument from another. They have
this data grows very rapidly every year.
confidence that the makers will provide quality in-
struments so they can do their job of weather analy- The idea that having that type of data means you
sis. Often they do not question the accuracy of the do not need to use your barometer is as wrong as pos-
instrument, or even realize that this is a question that sible. It is one of the strongest reasons to use your
might be asked. barometer. With an accurate barometer, you have a
way to test the weather map. Once you have tested the
That is not to imply anything is wrong—at least
maps, then indeed these are wonderful new ways to
so far. We have today phenomenally accurate barom-
do weather work at sea, or on land.
eters in science labs and weather stations on the one
path, and on the other path our knowledge of the A key point in this comparison is having an accu-
global atmosphere—which is ultimately dependent rate barometer. This is another new concept to mari-
upon individual barometer measurements around ners and others as well. Throughout maritime his-
the world—has also improved phenomenally, con- tory, mariners relied almost exclusively on pressure
sidering the immense complexity of the science. trends: up or down, fast or slow. They did not concern
themselves with the actual value of the pressure. This
Science labs and professional meteorology are
has been the teaching since the earliest days. Now we
well in tune barometrically, but the broader field of
have a new reason to know accurate pressures, and to
barometer users have not kept up as well. And there
that end this book covers the process of barometer
are changes on the near horizon that will be best met
calibration using natural pressures, which we have ac-
if we know as much as possible about the more com-
cess to through online resources. This Internet proce-
iii
dure itself was not possible five years ago, so there is
much new to modern barometer usage. There are of
course other ways to calibrate without the use of the
Internet.
Once we know accurate pressure from our barom-
Acknowledgements
eter, there are other applications, one of which is the Of the several book projects I have worked on over
forecasting of tropical storms using deviations from the years, none has been more rewarding and filled
the known mean pressures. To facilitate that proce- with discoveries than this one. Helping me along this
dure and for other applications, we reproduce in venture were a number of people who care about this
Chapter 10 the monthly mean sea level pressures and science and were kind enough to share their knowl-
their standard deviations worldwide. The more you edge, expert opinions, and insights with me.
use your barometer, the more interesting this data be- There are quite a few who deserve specific men-
comes, as does its applications. tion, but I must start with Merrill Kennedy, “The
Besides all of that, the crucial role of a barometer Barometer Man” (www.barometerman.com), who
in weather forecasting has not diminished, but it is has earned that title through 38 years of study and
slipping out of the textbooks way before its time, and experience as repairman, restorer, and calibrator of
we hope, here, to belay that trend as best we can. high-quality aneroids. We have spent countless hours
discussing these instruments, and with each talk I
Finally, an important new development in the
learned more. This would have been a much more
past ten years or so is the advent of inexpensive elec-
difficult task, if doable at all, without his help. So I
tronic barometers. These can be very accurate and
will say again, what I have said many times before.
easy to use, but like all others, they must be tested.
Thank you Merrill.
It is another goal of this book to introduce these new
devices to those who have not used them before, and My full list is long, but each person here has made
to present ways to evaluate them. a significant contribution to this book and I am very
grateful to each of you. Early conversations with Rob-
As the book proceeds, we inevitably end up ad-
ert Luke, Program Manager of the NWS Voluntary Ob-
dressing the two most common issues that barometer
serving Ship program, were influential on my deci-
repair departments ever receive: (1) My barometer
sion to take up this project, and his specific reminder
does not read the same as the weather reports, and
to heed the importance of temperature in barometry
(2) My barometer does not change.
was confirmed at each step of the work. Several sub-
The typical short answers are: (1) Weather reports sequent discussions with Pat Brandow, Port Meteo-
are for sea level, but your barometer is at a higher el- rological Officer for the Pacific Northwest area, were
evation, and (2) Watch more carefully, the changes always enlightening, and gave me invaluable insights
are small and slow. But these answers do not really into the practical use of barometers in ship reports.
convey much information. If we want more produc- He also confirmed our in-house barometer calibra-
tive use of our barometers, we need more in-depth tions.
answers to these questions—from each of the two
Vacuum technology expert Steve Hansen of Di-
paths mentioned earlier.
verseArts, LLC, designed and built our excellent ba-
rometer test chamber. We had many long discussions
on this technology and applications of precision
Examples and weather maps are from microbarographs. David Hale of Airflo Instruments,
the Northern Hemisphere, manufacturer of precision aneroids, provided unique
unless insights into barometer production and gave several
otherwise noted.
useful comments on the book. Dr. Jay Hendricks of
the National Institute of Standards and Technology

iv
provided valuable comments on a related section Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services kindly
of the text, which were much appreciated. I am also provided information about the reduction to sea lev-
grateful to Roger F. Allen, President of Alti-2 Inc., who el process used in the ASOS program. And a special
informed me, from a first-hand account, of the history thanks to Christopher Hampel, Calibration Scientist
and practical application of altimeters in skydiving. in Barometry at Environment Canada for several dis-
George Huxtable, FRIN, provided information cussions of the Plateau Correction as used in Canada,
about Hooke’s unique first marine barometer directly and for his review of the related section in this book.
from an original in the Oxford Museum of the His- And thanks to Bob McDavitt (“The Weather Ambas-
tory of Science. He also figured out how it worked, sador”) of the New Zealand MetService for providing
which was not obvious from other accounts. Naviga- special NZ station data for our barometer calibration
tion historian Bruce Stark shared his insights and re- service and for giving us permission to reproduce his
sources on the history of marine weather, just as he Southern Hemisphere barometer rules, and for his
has done so often on the history of navigation. It is checking the Northern Hemisphere ones we present-
a pleasure to thank both of these gentlemen for the ed here.
education and support they have given me over many John Lewis read the entire manuscript and offered
years, on many aspects of navigation science. valuable suggestions at several points. His job was
Graham Bartlett and Steve Jebson, Library Infor- made much easier by the preceding detailed review
mation Managers at the U.K. MetOffice, very kindly by Larry Brandt, friend and Starpath instructor. Larry
and efficiently provided several unique documents went though each section of the book, found most
and datasets, and answered other questions as well. of our errors, and offered many good suggestions for
Their hospitality was exceptional. Nearer home, Eliz- improvements—not just in matters of expression, but
abeth Walsh and her associates at the Magazine and also in content as well in some cases. Thank you Larry.
Newspaper Desk and Interlibrary Loan program of Your work remains very much appreciated.
the Seattle Public Library did an absolutely wonder- Toby Burch produced the illustrations for the
ful job of tracking down and providing dozens of rare book and did the cover design and page layout. There
papers and books over the past year. The Internet has is not a single drawing in the book that he has not
revolutionized how we can research a topic, but it is conceptually improved in the process of creating it.
still a distant competitor to educated and dedicated I am very fortunate to have his collaboration on this
librarians and the resources a good library has avail- project and on others.
able.
Discussions with international airline Captain
(and sailor) Jay Towne on all matters of aviation were
always useful and always enjoyable. Dr. Kenneth Mu-
kamal, MD of Harvard University kindly reviewed
the presentation of his research on headaches and
barometric pressure and offered several useful sug-
gestions. Dr. Richard Langley, Geodesy Department,
University of New Brunswick, shared his insights on
several matters relating to GPS and the elusive con-
cept of sea level.
Regina Moore at NWS’s National Data Buoy Cen-
ter explained barometer procedures and instruments
used in their measurements and also provided a copy
of Gerald Gill’s classic research paper on his original
design of the Gill pressure port. Laura Cook at NWS’s

v
 Table of Contents

Preface..................................................................................................................................................iii
Acknowledgements.............................................................................................................................. iv
1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Overview............................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 What is a Barometer?............................................................................................................ 2
1.3 What does it Measure?........................................................................................................ 14

2. ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE........................................................................................................ 21
2.1 An Ocean of Air.................................................................................................................. 21
2.2 Units.................................................................................................................................... 26
2.3 Pressure vs. Altitude........................................................................................................... 29
2.4 The Standard Atmosphere................................................................................................... 32
2.5 Pressure on Weather Maps.................................................................................................. 33

3. READING & CARE OF BAROMETERS..................................................................................... 39

3.1 Aneroid Barometers............................................................................................................ 39
3.2 Errors in Aneroid Barometers............................................................................................. 48
3.3 Electronic Barometers........................................................................................................ 55
3.4 Errors in Electronic Barometers......................................................................................... 56

4. BAROMETER CALIBRATION.................................................................................................... 59
4.1 What is Calibration?........................................................................................................... 59
4.2 Setting versus Calibrating................................................................................................... 62
4.3 Sources of Accurate Pressure.............................................................................................. 65
4.4 How to Find your Elevation................................................................................................ 68
4.5 Calibration Procedures........................................................................................................ 70
4.6 Test your Barometer in a Skyscraper.................................................................................. 77
4.7 Using a Weather Map to Check your Barometer................................................................ 78
4.8 Commercial Calibration Services....................................................................................... 79

5. BAROMETERS & WEATHER FORECASTING......................................................................... 81

5.1 Significance of the Actual Pressure.................................................................................... 81
5.2 What Causes the Pressure to Change.................................................................................. 86
5.3 Estimating Wind Speed from Pressure Reports.................................................................. 87
5.4 Rules Associated with Wind Directions............................................................................. 89
5.5 Trends and their Meanings................................................................................................. 94
5.6 Diurnal Variation................................................................................................................. 99
5.7 Icons on Electronic Barometers........................................................................................ 100

6. ROLE OF ACCURATE PRESSURE IN MARINE WEATHER.................................................. 103

6.1 Perspective........................................................................................................................ 103
6.2 Target Pressures................................................................................................................ 104
6.3 Checking Weather Maps and Model Forecasts (GRIB)................................................... 106
6.4 Storm Warning in the Tropics........................................................................................... 110

vi
7. OTHER ROLES OF ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE.................................................................... 111
7.1 Pressure and Tide Height.................................................................................................. 111
7.2 Health and the Barometer................................................................................................. 114
7.3 The Barometer in Sports................................................................................................... 117
7.4 The Barometer in Science................................................................................................. 122

8. BAROMETER SELECTION....................................................................................................... 125

8.1 The Choices...................................................................................................................... 125
8.2 Choosing an Aneroid Barometer...................................................................................... 128
8.3 Choosing an Electronic Barometer................................................................................... 134
8.4 Sensors vs. Barometers..................................................................................................... 144

9. ALTIMETERS.............................................................................................................................. 145
9.1 The Hypsometric Equation............................................................................................... 145
9.2 Climbing and Hiking........................................................................................................ 146
9.3 Aviation............................................................................................................................. 148
9.4 Skydiving.......................................................................................................................... 155
9.5 Barometers in GPS Units.................................................................................................. 156
9.6 Mining and Caving........................................................................................................... 157

10. WORLDWIDE MONTHLY MEAN PRESSURES................................................................... 159

10.1 The Data.......................................................................................................................... 159
10.2 Overview of World Pressures......................................................................................... 161
10.3 Obtaining Mean Pressure Data from the NCDC............................................................ 162

FURTHER READING...................................................................................................................... 213

APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................... 216

A1. Pressure units conversions............................................................................................... 217

A2. The Standard Atmosphere................................................................................................ 218

A3. Finding Sea Level Pressure from Station Pressure.......................................................... 220

A4. Using Spreadsheet Software for Calibration Analysis..................................................... 226

A5. Forecasts using Pressure and Wind.................................................................................. 227

A6. Density Altitude............................................................................................................... 231

INDEX.............................................................................................................................................. 233

About the Author............................................................................................................................... 239

vii
 He who watches his barometer, watches his ship.*

* This saying appears to have originated with Henry Piddington in one of his books on Indian
Ocean storms from the 1840s, probably The Horn-Book of Storms for the Indian and China Seas,
1844. He is thus credited with it by Jane Taylor in her Hand-Book to the Local Marine Board Exami-
nation of 1853. By 1865, this saying is referred to as a “maxim” without authorship in Chambers’s
Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art. In 1881 it was used by S. T. S. Lecky in the first edition
of his famous Wrinkles in Practical Navigation (also without reference to its origin), which contin-
ued in print as a standard reference until its final (23rd) edition in 1956.

viii
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
A barometer is an instrument designed specifically
to measure atmospheric pressure, but this one mea-
lantic mapping the earth’s magnetic variation as well
as recording daily barometric pressures, which he cor-
surement has diverse applications. So diverse, in fact, related with observed weather patterns. Both sets of
that the name of this instrument has come to mean data were keystone steps to the productive use of each
a way to measure anything. It was recently explained instrument.
to seventy million TV viewers in the first sentence of Throughout the three-hundred-year history of the
a U.S. vice presidential debate that the “barometer of barometer, there have been numerous well-circulated
the economy” is a soccer mom. But despite exposure reference texts that appeared with each new stage of
to such figures of speech, it is the very image of the its development. The modern bible from a practical
instrument as dependable and durable over several point of view is the Manual of Barometry, from the U.S.
hundred years that has led to this etymology. Weather Bureau in 1963. From a mariner’s perspec-
tive, the most famous is the Barometer Manual pub-
1.1 Overview lished in 1866 by Robert FitzRoy, known as the father
of marine weather. He invented the concept (and the
The main goal of this book is to explain what a ba- name) of a “weather forecast,” and was a champion
rometer is and how we might use one to our best ad- of the use of barometers on both land and sea. He
vantage in several applications. It is not intended as was also the sea captain of the Beagle who took Dar-
just a description of the instruments and an outline win around the world on his great voyage of discov-
of their history, which we do only briefly, but more of ery (1831 to 1836) that served as the foundation of
a working manual on the “nuts and bolts” of practical his theory of evolution. FitzRoy was later appointed
applications, with an emphasis on the latest technol- head of the newly established Bureau of Meteorol-
ogy of both the devices and their applications. ogy, which evolved into the modern British Met Of-
The application we consider in most detail is the fice, counterpart of the U.S. National Weather Service.
use of a barometer for the analysis and forecast of A severe storm during the Darwin voyage that nearly
weather, using specific examples from marine weath- sank the Beagle was later recalled by FitzRoy as one he
er. Pilots, farmers, fire fighters, sportsmen, and many might have avoided had he paid more attention to his
other landsmen count on knowledge of the weather, barometer—an incident that certainly contributed to
but the mariner isolated on a ship at sea, a thousand his conversion to the cause and lifelong devotion to
miles from land, has as close a tie as possible to the its promotion.
barometer and the insights it can offer on prospective Another goal of this book is to “introduce” the
weather. This has been true since its very inception modern electronic barometer to new users and to
and remains true today, as reflected in the history of those who have used more traditional designs for
the instrument and its applications. many years. This transition is actually a big step, es-
The barometer is nearly as venerable an instru- pecially for maritime applications. It is suggesting a
ment as is the mariner’s compass, and coincidentally transition from instruments that have been used and
pioneering research on both instruments was carried tested for 100 years to a completely new style that has
out on the same, first-ever, worldwide voyage dedi- been on the market for only a dozen or so years, with
cated to scientific study. Capt Edmond Halley in 1696 effectively no discussions of their properties or func-
to 1698 sailed throughout the North and South At- tion in the popular literature. Furthermore, tradition-
2 THE BAROMETER HANDBOOK

al aneroid barometers in use for the past 150 years or understanding of these devices remains pretty much
so are easily identified at first sight as scientific instru- the same today, three hundred years later.
ments, not to mention that the appearance of these The instruments themselves, on the other hand,
devices has not even changed during this period. have evolved through three completely different de-
(Can we think of any other instrument, of any kind, signs during this period: mercury, aneroid, and elec-
that has not changed appearance in 150 years?) Many tronic. It started with the simple design of an inverted
aneroid barometers even have open front panels to glass tube filled with mercury, invented in 1643 by
expose the inside workings of the instrument. On the Torricelli, an associate of Galileo. This concept quick-
other hand, many of the new electronic barometers ly found its way across Europe and into England, and
look more like a gadget than a scientific instrument. by 1700 became standardized to the point they could
And the fact that we are surrounded in our daily lives be readily manufactured. Thus they moved out of
by essentially disposable electronic clocks and calcu- “science labs” and into private homes, public build-
lators and cell phones, does not help build the im- ings, and ships of the sea. Designs for maritime use
age of another electronic device, made quite possibly continued to improve until the late 1800s, but it was
in the same factories where these other devices are a losing race. By that time mercury barometers were
made. replaced almost entirely by the new aneroid design.
So the task at hand is to try to help establish guide- Aneroid means “without liquid,” because the new de-
lines for evaluating these new instruments—and the sign was purely mechanical, with no mercury or other
older styles as well—so that prudent users can sepa- liquids.
rate out what are in fact instruments from what are
more like gadgets. The electronic devices, just like the
The “Torricellian Experiment”
traditional aneroid devices, are not all the same, but Torricelli and Galileo had in essence set about to
very rarely can you tell this difference by just look- measure how long a straw could be that you could
ing at them. The fact that a traditional aneroid de- still suck water through, primarily in response to
vice might look quite venerable is no guarantee of its more practical questions of how high water could be
quality. pumped in various applications. We know from the
soda fountain that a foot or so works just fine, but is
No matter what your application is, be it predict-
there a limit to how tall it could be? They got all the
ing the wind and weather, or fixing the elevation of
way to 33 feet, but it would go no higher.
your hike across a mountain, or tuning the fuel injec-
tors of a race car on the starting line, all applications The long straw behaved just like a short one,
are better served by an understanding of how the in- namely as long as you kept suction on the top, the
strument works, and most important, how you can column of water did not fall. But no matter how hard
test that it is working properly. you tried, you could not pull water up a glass tube
higher than about 33 ft.
Torricelli reasoned that when he removed the air
1.2 What is a Barometer?
from the top of the straw by sucking on it (pumping
By the early1700’s, barometers were known to most it out to be more precise), it was the weight of the air
educated people as instruments that measure some- pushing down on the water in the basin at the base
thing related to the weather—and perhaps, in some that forced the water up the straw. The 33-foot limit
individuals, to some level of well being. It was also was reached when the weight of the water in the straw
discovered very early on that they have great utility balanced the weight of the air pressing down on the
in determining the elevation of terrain, and thus they basin of water. And if that interpretation was right, he
became as much a practical tool for explorers wishing supposed—which Galileo, by the way, did not think
to document their finds as to seamen and landsmen was true—that if he changed the liquid to be mercury,
wishing to anticipate the weather. This level of public some 13.7 times heavier than water, then the column
 CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION 3

would only reach to (33/13.7) feet, which is about fill up that tube with mercury (Figure 1.2-1). Place
29 inches. your finger over the open end of the tube to seal it,
And sure enough that was right. Though many and carefully turn in over, and place the finger cover-
of his contemporaries remained more interested in ing the bottom of the tube into the bowl, under the
pumping water into tall decorative fountains, or over surface of the mercury, and very slowly remove your
the tops of hills for irrigation, he realized his device finger keeping the tube held upright in the vertical
could measure the weight of the air. It was not long position. The mercury in the tube will run out some-
till he noticed that the column height changed from what, adding to what is in the bowl, but it won’t all
day to day, and he rightfully suspected (for slightly run out. It will leave a vacuum at the top of the tube
the wrong reasons) that the weight of the air was about 6 inches long, and a column of mercury stand-
changing. As we would say it now, when the local at- ing about 30 inches high in the tube.
mospheric pressure was low, the column of mercury The weight of the air on the surface of the mercury
was low, and when high pressure passed by, the mer- in the basin is forcing it up the tube, telling us exactly
cury column was taller. what we want to know from such a device, the atmo-
Unfortunately he was not able to make any use- spheric pressure, in a unit of atmospheric pressure
ful correlation between his mercury height and the that has come to be called “inches of mercury.” The
weather, because the height of the mercury expanded worldwide, season-wide average pressure is 29.92”
and contracted with air temperature and he was not and it varies with the weather usually not more than
aware of that. Nor was he able to prove that the air about ±1”.
weighed less at higher elevations, which is also some- If we wanted to know the actual weight of the air
thing he believed to be true. These discoveries using from this apparatus, we could figure the weight of
his device emerged only slowly over the next 50 years
or so.
Torricelli’s experiment itself, however, fairly quick-
ly evolved into a simple operation that could be car-
ried out by anyone, using the most basic equipment.
This remains until today the epitome of a scientist’s
ideal experiment—easy to do, with simple, inexpen-
sive equipment, and with rigorously reproducible re-
sults.
Here is how his experiment is described, but this
is not a recommendation that you do this. On the
contrary, you should not do this. Mercury can be
toxic if not handled properly, and the glass tubes,
open bowls, etc, make this in fact a hazardous way
to handle it. This is something early researchers were
not aware of, to the detriment of many. Even as late
as the 1990s, dangerous levels of mercury vapor were
being discovered in old science laboratories in Eng-
land. Mercury spilled onto the floor and through the
floor boards had collected for many decades in some
cases, contaminating both air and surfaces.
Think of starting with a bowl of mercury and a Figure 1.2-1 Torricellian experiment that started it all...
the science of barometers and atmospheric pressure, as
clear glass tube about a quarter of an inch in diameter
well as the philosophical quest to understand the concept
and 36 inches long that is sealed at one end. Then of a vacuum. Figure 1.2-2 illustrates the principle.
4 THE BAROMETER HANDBOOK

the mercury column being supported. The quarter- Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), Italian scientific gi-
inch-diameter tube has a cross-sectional area of pr2 ant, was the father of the scientific method. Among
= p(0.25/2)2 = 0.049 square inches. The weight of the what are typically considered more profound discov-
mercury is the volume times its density (0.4889 lbs eries, in the 1630s he confirmed the observations of
per cubic inch) and if the column balanced out at 30 others that water could not be pumped higher than
inches, it would weigh (length x area x density) = 30 33 feet by suction and proposed a reason why, though
x 0.049 x 0.4889 = 0.72 lbs. This then would be the it was not correct. Shortly before he died, he passed
force exerted on the area of the tube at the base, so on this pump mystery to his new associate Torricelli,
the actual pressure would be 0.72 lbs/0.049 square who made his mercury tube discoveries about a year
inches, which equals 14.7 lbs per square inch. This later.
is illustrated in Figure 1.2-2, which shows a variation Evangelista Torricelli (1608–1647), Italian phys-
of the Torricellian tube called a mercury manometer. icist and mathematician, is the central figure of this
Notice that the actual diameter of the tube in use will story. His main claim to fame is his work in 1643 on
always cancel out of this computation, so it is not cru- the original mercury tube. He has been forever hon-
cial to the conclusion. ored with a unit of pressure called the Torr, equal to
Many of the greatest scientists and philosophers 1 mm of mercury as it stands in a mercury barometer.
of the time devoted some of their energy and intellect In 1644, he wrote: “We live submerged at the bottom
to the development, understanding, or application of of an ocean of air.” He appreciated the fact that his
this “Torricellian Experiment.” device measured the weight of the air, but he was not
able to fine tune the observations enough to associate
actual weather changes with mercury heights. Though
less known to the public, he made other important
contributions to science and mathematics and suc-
Vacuum Weight ceeded Galileo as Professor of Mathematics and Sci-
of air ence at Pisa.
(Wa) Rene Descartes (1596–1650), French philoso-
pher and scientist, was the first to put numerical
scales on a “Torricelli tube,” at which time he also
sent a duplicate scale to an associate in 1647 so they
Weight could compare results. In this sense he deserves some
h = 30” of mercury credit for inventing “the barometer.” There is even ev-
(Wm) idence that Descartes knew how they worked, having
proposed a way to measure atmospheric pressure in
1631. On philosophical grounds, however, he would
Area not accept the idea that there was a vacuum at the
(A) top of the mercury column, which could not help but
lead him astray—which does not distract the slightest
from his many profound contributions to mathemat-
ics and philosophy.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), French giant in sci-
ence, mathematics, and philosophy, proposed that
Wa Wm h xA xρ air became thinner as you ascend in the atmosphere
Pressure = = = = h xρ
A A A and proved it in 1648 with a scaled mercury tube
i.e. Pressure = height x density measured at two elevations, 3000 feet apart. Thus
he established the use of barometers as altimeters,
Figure 1.2-2 A mercury manometer. which spread rapidly around Europe and England.
 CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION 5

He also defended his conclusion that it was indeed a To carry out these experiments he and his assistant
vacuum over the top of the mercury, and in discuss- Robert Hooke also made significant contributions to
ing this position and his barometer measurements he air pump design and related technologies, and they
formulated a principle of scientific philosophy that were the first to use a mercury tube manometer as
remains today a cornerstone of modern science. “In a pressure gauge for scientific studies of more basic
order to show that a hypothesis is evident, it does not matters, such as the proprieties of gases.
suffice that all the phenomena follow from it; instead, In a letter of 1665 and later in a published pa-
if it leads to something contrary to a single one of per in 1666, Boyle was the first person to describe the
the phenomena, that suffices to establish its falsity.” mercury tube used to measure pressure as a barometer,
We can on some level thank the barometer for that thus establishing the name we still use today.
insight.
Robert Hooke (1635-1703), British, is often de-
He also derived Pascal’s Principle, which states scribed as the single greatest experimental scientist of
that pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is transmit- the seventeenth century. He has been called England’s
ted undiminished to every part of the fluid, as well Leonardo. He made pioneering contributions in
as to the walls of the container. This is not only a key many areas of science and engineering, including the
to the function of a barometer, but he could use it escapement and balance spring that ultimately led to
immediately to build the first hydraulic pump. He accurate clocks, the discovery of plant cells (a word he
too has been rewarded with a unit of pressure called invented for this use), as well as proposing a theory of
a Pascal, which is equal to 1 Newton of force per 1 evolution based on microscope work with fossils.
square meter of area. It leads directly to the common
He also worked on astronomy and proposed a
unit of atmospheric pressure called a millibar, which
theory of gravity, which made him a rival of the great
is the same as a hecto Pascal.
and powerful Newton, who shamefully succeeded in
Pascal was also a fountain of well-made apho- dampening the acclaim Hooke deserved at the time.
risms in his later writings. “Chance favors those who
are best prepared” is a good one for ocean navigators Volume
and backgammon players to keep in mind. Vacuum
Robert Boyle (1627-1691) was a wealthy English- Thermometer
man, considered the founder of modern chemistry.
He is most famous for Boyle’s Law (1669), which
Test chamber pressure

states that the pressure of an enclosed gas is inversely

proportional to its volume so long as the temperature Test
remains the same. Thus if you have gas in a cylinder, chamber
its pressure will rise as the piston lowers to reduce the
volume. Cut the volume in half and the pressure will Heat
Valves
increase by a factor of two. See Figure 1.2-3. Boyle de-
scribed this process by thinking of a “spring in the
air.” When you compress the gas, the pressure builds,
which acts like a spring resisting the compression. Re-
call these were days before the knowledge of atoms Pump
and molecules, so this was quite an abstract concept
for the time.
He made this discovery while defending his be- Figure 1.2-3 A mercury manometer pressure gauge. Stu-
dents around the world use this same type of apparatus
lief that air pressure can in fact exert strong forces,
that Boyle used to learn about the properties of gases.
which had come under attack in the ongoing argu- With such an arrangement, the temperature, volume, and
ments about the nature of air, and more importantly, pressure of the gas can all be varied to see how they are
the nature of a vacuum. related.
6 THE BAROMETER HANDBOOK

Hooke developed the theory of combustion, and of the American Founding Fathers and the subsequent
he was a principal architect and surveyor in the re- Declaration of Independence, but also for the key role
building of London after the great fire. The list goes he played in associating barometric pressure with the
on into many fields, including the development of weather we experience. Thomas Jefferson bought his
the first marine barometer used by Edmund Halley first barometer in 1776, about 100 years later—and
on the first-ever worldwide voyage of scientific discov- chances are the instruments were very similar.
ery. An example of a modern mercury barometer of
His namesake in the world of science these days, the type found in many laboratories even today is
however, is Hooke’s Law of Springs, which has a di- shown in Figure 1.2-4.
rect and lasting effect on the functioning of aneroid
barometers, something he did not know about at the
Aneroid Barometers
time. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) was a
German giant in philosophy and mathematics, in-
Edmund Halley (1656-1742) was an English as-
ventor of the binary number system that modern
tronomer and sea captain. He is most famous for his
computers are based upon, and inventor of a me-
prediction of what is now called Halley’s Comet, but
his contribution to the evolution of barometer usage
is just as profound, though much less known. As men-
tioned earlier, he took a custom marine barometer
(designed by Hooke) with him on his worldwide voy-
ages of scientific discovery, during which he recorded
pressures and correlated them with the weather ob-
servations in both hemispheres (1698-1700).
Other than noting the measurements, his actual
logbooks do not include much detail about barom-
eters, but the following year he published an article
describing the Hooke barometer he used along with
the declaration:
“I had one of these Barometers with
me in my late Southern Voyage, and it
never failed to prognostick and give early
notice of all bad weather we had, so that
I depended thereon, and made provision
accordingly; and from my own experience
I conclude that a more useful contrivance
hath not for this long time been offered
for the benefit of Navigation.”
John Locke (1632-1704), an English giant among
philosophical thinkers, was also a weather buff, hav-
ing known both Boyle and Hooke at Oxford. He
Figure 1.2-4 A Fortin style mercury barom-
measured and recorded what is considered the first eter originally from Princo. The first step in
systematic record of temperature, pressure, humidity, reading it is to adjust a pointer at the bottom
wind, and weather in England from 1666 to 1683. to just touch the top of the mercury, then use
The data are cited in the article by Boyle where he first the sliding vernier scale to read the height of
used the word barometer. So we can remember Locke the column. Corrections for temperature and
latitude have then to be applied. This unit is at
not only for his profound influence on the thinking
Starpath HQ in Seattle..
 CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION 7

chanical calculator, rival of Newton for the invention patent, and was in and out of court for decades to fol-
of calculus and other aspects of theoretical physics. low. He apparently did not prosper greatly from the
Though not usually listed among his many brilliant invention. Unlike others mentioned here who took
achievements, he was the first person to propose the part in the evolution of the barometer, he was not dis-
construction of a steel bellows aneroid barometer tinguished for other achievements.
in several communications (with the famous Dutch Besides those mentioned, Pascal, Boyle, and Ber-
scientist Daniel Bernoulli) from about 1700, but he nouilli had each considered the concept of an aner-
did not have craftsmen available to build it. Thus the oid device but none succeeded in building one.
seeds of the future were at hand early in the history
Aneroid means “without liquid,” in that this is a
of barometers, but its realization had to wait for 140
barometer that does not use mercury as all precur-
years.
sors did. It relies on a vacuum sealed metal bellows
Nicolas Jacques Conte (1755-1805), French (sometimes called a sylphon depending on how it is
painter, engraver, and mechanical genius invented made) that expands and contracts in response to the
many practical devices and procedures and was a atmospheric pressure outside of it. A clock-like mech-
national leader in the birth of the French industrial anism then transfers this expansion and contraction
revolution for which he received the first Legion of into a dial setting that shows the pressure.
Honor award from Napoleon. He also created in es-
The generic aneroid barometer appearance is
sence the first aneroid barometer in 1798 to measure
shown in Figure 1.2-5. Aneroids (shorthand for aner-
relative heights of hot-air balloons, but it was not
oid barometer) were introduced to the public shortly
pursued for use with atmospheric pressure measure-
after their invention and many competing models
ments. He also was the inventor of what we now call
were readily available worldwide by the 1860’s. They
the lead pencil.
became popular because they were smaller (about 5
Lucien Vidie (1805-1866), was a French engineer inches or less in diameter) and more portable than
who designed, built, and patented the first success- the mercury devices. They were also more durable (no
ful aneroid barometer in 1844. He is described as a glass tubes or mercury to spill), they cost less, and
poor businessman who had legal troubles getting the they were easier to read.
instruments manufactured as well as defending his
Aneroid barometers were also considered more
accurate at the time by some, but this was largely a
misunderstanding tied to the fact that they were eas-
ier to read, and could be read to a higher precision.
The challenge of distinguishing between “precision”
and “accuracy” is with us still today, and it is a mantra
that will come up in multiple settings as this book
proceeds. For now we just note that proper questions
on their inherent accuracy or limitations were raised
in the scientific and maritime literature almost imme-
diately when the instruments appeared across Europe
and the UK in the mid 1800’s. In any event, within
25 years or so, they had done away with their mercu-
ry-tube competitors as a popular barometer, though
some mercury tubes remained on a few vessels till be-
yond 1900, and they remain in science laboratories
even today.
Figure 1.2-5 Aneroid barometer. They look much the same
today as they did in 1850. Diameters vary from 2” to 8”, but
It is only the fairly recent official declaration (in
typically are 4” to 5“. They are about 2 to 4” deep. the U.S. and Common Market) that mercury can be
8 THE BAROMETER HANDBOOK

toxic if mishandled, which has led to legal restrictions entific (www.russell-scientific.co.uk) and Barometer
on the sale and transport of mercury (2007) that put World (www.barometerspareparts.co.uk) in the U.K.
mercury barometers to rest on still another level. A that sell classic mercury barometer kits and parts to
longtime popular source for laboratory grade mercu- be self assembled. They leave it to the customer to
ry instruments in the U.S. (www.princoinstruments. acquire locally the needed mercury and to fill it. The
com) discontinued selling them but keeps their earli- latter company also offers an extensive source of an-
er webpage and instruction manuals online. It’s hard eroid barometer parts as well.
to give up something that has been such a good tool Laboratory grade mercury barometers are avail-
for so long, not to mention that there are likely hun- able from the Dr. Alfred Müller Meteoroglogical In-
dreds in use around the world still. We have one in struments Company in Berlin (www.rfuess-mueller.
our classroom in Seattle. de) who have carried on with the production of
There are still experienced antique dealers and the renown R-Fuess instruments that date from the
barometer specialists that restore and sell antique 1800s. We have been told by those who have used
mercury barometers. They have developed safe ways the instruments that their mercury instruments No.
to transport them within the law. An Internet search 2k and 20k are unsurpassed in quality. This company
on antique barometers will find many sources, world- also produces the R-Fuess precision aneroid barom-
wide. There are also companies such as Russell Sci- eters, which are among the best available today.

A
B

8 3 2

7
4 6

1
5

Figure 1.2-6 Left. Side view of an aneroid barometer movement.

There are two systems in balance. The evacuated bellows [1] are try-
ing to collapse under the force of the atmospheric pressure and they
are being held apart by a large flat spring [2]. The main pin axis that
holds the needle [A] is being twisted clockwise by a spiral hairspring
[7], which is being resisted by a counterclockwise twist from a thin chain [8] wrapped around it. When the pressure drops,
the bellows have less force on them so the spring pulls them more apart, which in turn raises the arm [3] connected to
rod [4]. As [4] is pulled up, the front side [6] rotates down on pivot [5]. This lets the thin chain [8] forward, so spring [7]
wrap more chain on the pin, turning [A] counterclockwise showing a drop in pressure on the dial [B]. On the back of the
device, there is a set screw [C] that makes small adjustments to the bellows height, so you can set the pressure right at a
desired reading. Several adjustments are built into the movement so that the rotation of the needle can be made propor-
tional to the change in pressure.
Right. A cutaway view of a similar movement. There are several movement designs in use today. Some aneroids have 1
bellows only, others have 2 to 5. The bellows are usually corrugated as shown, as this reduces distortion during expan-
sion [hysteresis]. In better units, the bar [3] is usually a bimetal strip that bends with temperature to compensate for
temperature changes in the bellows and main spring. Adapted from Handbook of Meteorological Instruments, Vol. 1.
 CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION 9

Aneroid barometers are the main type used at sea record the pressure from a conventional barometer
today. The heart of the instrument remains the par- when you read it, you don’t need the graph. Further-
tially evacuated, thin metal bellows, also called an more, we are likely to be more aware of what is going
aneroid capsule. As the external pressure varies, the on with the pressure if we must read and record it,
bellows expand or contract, and this motion is used rather than having this all done for us.
to indicate the pressure. Several bellows designs and It is true that if you record the pressure at each
movements have been invented over the years. One watch change, or simply routinely when on land, you
Barographs get all the information the barograph provides (miss-
ing only the nice plot of the results), but that is not
A “barograph” is usually thought to be an aneroid
the whole story. When underway in the ocean we typ-
barometer with a strip chart that records the pressure
ically record the pressure all day and all night, but on
as an ink trace on a drum, rotating in response to a
coastal trips if we anchor out or tie up at night we typ-
wound spring (Figure 1.2-7). A sample barograph
ically do not have a watch on to record the pressure. A
trace from a famous storm is shown in Figure 1.2-8.
barograph feature can be quite nice in these circum-
Modern versions sometimes use battery-operated stances to alert us to what took place over night.
quartz clocks to rotate the drum. Barographs are very
The exceptions in ocean sailing are the single-
convenient on land or on large ships, but not practical
handed and double-handed racing sailors who often
on a small boat at sea. Often the trace you care about
have to keep irregular hours. They have discovered
is in bad weather and then the trace ends up a broad
that a barograph trace is crucial because they do not
smear as the instrument bounces around in the seas.
always have time to keep systematic logbook records.
Speaking from experience, it is difficult to avoid this. I
A glance at the pressure trace over the past 2 hours
have done an ocean passage on a 40-foot sailboat de-
or past 24 hours could alert them to something they
voting half of a quarter berth to a conventional baro-
might have missed otherwise. They often prefer an
graph, suspended into free space using bungee cords
electronic trace (rather than conventional ink on pa-
on four corners. The smear of the trace was still broad
per) of the pressure, which brings up the next point.
and erratic when the seas got rough. Larger deep-sea
vessels, however, routinely use these at sea, especially To be more modern, we are better to think of the
those with extra dampening (Figure 1.2-7).
Barographs are a wonderful luxury, but if you

Figure 1.2-8 A barograph trace of Hurricane Wilma as it

crossed south Florida in October of 2005. The observed
Figure 1.2-7 A Fischer precision barograph with extra pressure dropped from about 29.60 to 28.54 (1002 to 966
dampening for use at sea. They are also available in mb) in 10 hours, but it had, 5 days earlier, set the Atlantic
glass and wood frames. Drum rotation rates can be set to record Low of 882 mb (26.05”) in the Caribbean.
26 hr or as high as 783 hr (32 days).
10 THE BAROMETER HANDBOOK

word “barograph” as meaning any barometer that re-

cords and displays past pressures. That makes many
electronic barometers into electronic barographs, be-
cause these models store the data and display them
graphically, or they allow users to push buttons to
step back through past pressures. These offer nice his-
tories underway without the smear of a printed re-
cord. Thus we might refer to “electronic barometers”
as instruments that measure and display the pressure
electronically, whereas “electronic barographs” are
ones that can also display past pressures. One popular
electronic barometer has a unique compromise of of-
fering inkless printing onto heat sensitive paper so the
user can get a smooth trace even underway in rough
seas. On land, of course, all forms of barographs offer
clean beautiful traces.
Typical aneroid barograph recording papers are
for 7 days, but multiple traces can be recorded on one Figure 1.2-9 An electronic barograph display from Vion
model 4002, imported in the U.S. from France by Weems
paper. Barographs are usually made with high qual-
and Plath. The time range of the display can be varied to
ity aneroid movements. They are often works of art show the past 2 hr to the past 48 hr, as shown. Once a
as well as dependable instruments. They are, howev- history display is selected, the user can step back through
er, often expensive instruments, varying from about the data to view actual times and pressures recorded.
eight hundred to several thousand dollars.
A “microbarograph” is a barograph with extra bel- Electronic Barometers
lows and precision movements intended for more ac-
An “electronic barometer” (sometimes called
curate measurements. The use of this name today is
“digital barometer”) is a small electronic device with
commonly intended to convey a quality instrument,
internal sensors and electronic circuits that measure
though its origin can be traced to a significant expan-
atmospheric pressure and then display the value dig-
sion of the plotting scale that allowed for more ac-
itally—as opposed to an aneroid display, which is a
curate readings. Early Navy barographs had a 1-inch
pointer on a dial. The crucial components are a small
change in the pressure represented by a 1-inch range
electronic sensor that measures the pressure and an
of the recording pen, but these were then updated to
electronic processor (essentially a tiny computer)
microbarographs that expanded this to 2.5 inches
that interprets the output of the sensor and then con-
on the plot for each 1 inch of pressure change. Thus
trols the numerical display. There are several sensor
barographs can be characterized by the ratio of pres-
designs, some of which are just tiny aneroid cells,
sure change in inches to the corresponding sweep of
and there are several designs of how the expansion
the pen, as 1-1 barographs for the former and 2.5-1
of the cell is measured. The units themselves can be
microbarographs for the latter. This property can be
anything from a sleek modernistic design the size of
used as a benchmark in comparing instruments.
a card deck to a plain 10-inch wide metal box with
Figure 1.2-9 shows samples of the electronic 2-inch tall digits. Some have computer interfaces, oth-
“barograph” display of a popular unit showing how ers do not. Some show a graph of the pressure history,
you can change the scale to view the past 2 hours, or others do not. Some are simply the component of a
condense the scale to show the past 2 days. large wrist watch. Some are included in hand-held
GPS units. Electronic barometers vary in price from
$25 to $2,500. Samples are shown in Figures 1.2-10
 This is the end of the sample.

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