An important characteristic of the Earth's atmosphere is its pressure as it often determines

wind and weather patterns across the globe. By definition, atmospheric or air pressure is the
force per unit of area exerted on the Earth’s surface by the weight of the air above the
surface. The force exerted by an air mass is created by the molecules that make it up and
their size, motion, and number present in the air. These are important factors because they
determine the temperature and density of the air and thus its pressure.

Molecules are significant for measuring air pressure because if the number of air molecules
above a surface increases, there are more molecules to exert pressure on a surface and total
atmospheric pressure increases. By contrast, if the number of molecules decreases, so too
does the air pressure.

Today, air pressure is measured with a mercury or aneroid barometer. A mercury barometer
measures the height of a mercury column in a vertical glass tube. As air pressure changes, the
height of the mercury column does as well- it drops when pressure falls and rises when it
increases. An aneroid barometer uses a coil of tubing with most of the air removed. The coil
then bends inward when pressure rises and bows out when pressure drops. Using instruments
such as these, scientists have set the standard of normal sea level pressure at about 1013.2
millibars (force per square meter of surface area).

Low and High Pressure

Air pressure is not uniform across the Earth however. The normal range of the Earth's air
pressure is from 980 millibars (mb) to 1050 mb. These differences are the result of low and
high air pressure systems which are caused by unequal heating across the Earth's surface and
the pressure gradient force.

A low pressure system, or "low," is an area where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that
of the area surrounding it. Lows are usually associated with high winds, warm air, and
atmospheric lifting. Because of this, lows normally produce clouds, precipitation, and other bad
weather such as tropical storms and cyclones.

In addition, areas prone to low pressure do not have extreme diurnal (day vs. night) nor
extreme seasonal temperatures because the clouds present over such areas reflect incoming
solar radiation back into the atmosphere so they cannot warm as much during the day (or in
the summer) and at night they act as a blanket, trapping heat below.

Conversely, a high pressure system, or "high," is an area where the atmospheric pressure is
greater than that of the surrounding area. In some places highs are referred to as
anticyclones. These move clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the
southern due to the Coriolis Effect.

High pressure areas are normally caused by a phenomenon called subsidence, meaning that
as the air in the high cools it becomes denser and moves toward the ground. Pressure
increases here because more air fills the space left from the low. Subsidence also evaporates
most of the atmosphere's water vapor so high pressure systems are usually associated with
clear skies and calm weather.

Unlike areas of low pressure, the absence of clouds means that areas prone to high pressure
experience extremes in diurnal and seasonal temperatures since there are no clouds to block
incoming solar radiation or trap outgoing longwave radiation at night. Thus such areas have
higher high temperatures and lower lows.
Global Lows and Highs

Across the globe (diagram), there are several important consistently low and high pressure
areas. They are as follows:

The Equatorial Low Pressure Trough: This area is in the Earth's equatorial region (0°-10°
North and South) and is composed of warm, light, ascending and converging air. Because the
converging air is wet and full of excess energy it expands and cools as it rises, creating the
clouds and heavy rainfall that are prominent throughout the area. This low pressure zone
trough also forms the ITCZ and trade winds.

Subtropical High-Pressure Cells: Located between 20° N/S and 35°N/S this is a zone of
hot, dry air that forms as the warm air descending from the tropics becomes hotter. Because
hot air can hold more water vapor, it is relatively dry. The heavy rain along the equator also
removes most of the excess moisture. The dominant winds in the Subtropical high are called
westerlies.

Subpolar Low-Pressure Cells: This area is at 60° N/S latitude and features cool, wet
weather. The Subpolar low is caused by the meeting of cold air masses from higher latitudes
and warmer air masses from lower latitudes. In the northern hemisphere, their meeting forms
the polar front which produces the low pressure cyclonic storms responsible for precipitation in
the Pacific Northwest and Europe. In the southern hemisphere, severe storms develop along
these fronts and cause high winds and snowfall in Antarctica.

Polar High-Pressure Cells: These are located at 90° N/S and are extremely cold and dry.
With these systems, winds move away from the poles in an anticyclone which descends and
diverges to form the polar easterlies. They are weak however because there is little energy
available in the poles to make the systems strong. The Antarctic high is stronger though
because it is able to form over the cold landmass instead of the warmer sea.

By studying these highs and lows, scientists are better able to understand the Earth's
circulation patterns and predict weather for use in daily life, navigation, shipping, and other
important activities, making air pressure an important component to meteorology and other
atmospheric science.

Air Pressure

Variations Consequences Weighing air

As we know, the air in the atmosphere is made up of a number of gases.

These gases press down on the Earth’s surface, exerting a force that we
call atmospheric pressure or air pressure. Although we are usually
unaware of this pressure, it actually presses down very hard – roughly
equivalent to the force of an elephant balancing on a desk!
Variations...

Air pressure varies over time and from place to place. If we travel up a
mountain or go up in a hot air balloon, for example, the air pressure
 gets less the higher we go. We can explain this difference by comparing
air pressure to a pile of blankets on your bed.

Air pressure at sea level is the equivalent of having many blankets,

which would feel very heavy. If you have only one blanket though, it
...with height would feel very light, and this is like the air pressure at the top of a
mountain. Each layer of air presses down on the layers below, and so
the greatest pressure is at ground level where we have the maximum
amount of air above. If we go above the height of mountains and into
the stratosphere, the pressure will decrease until it reaches about zero,
as here there is hardly any air above it.

Air pressure also varies over time, and these temporal differences are
usually caused by the temperature of the air. Cool air is denser (heavier)
...with time than warm air. Warm air is less dense (lighter) than cool air and will
therefore rise above it. Areas of high pressure can be caused when cool
air is sinking and pressing on the ground. At this time, the weather is
usually dry and clear. In contrast, when warm air rises, it causes a
region of low pressure. With low pressure, the weather is often wet and
cloudy.

Changes in air pressure bring changes in the weather and make winds
blow. Air usually moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low
Winds...
pressure, and this produces winds. This can be easily remembered with
the phrase:

"Winds blow from high to low!"

Barometer... Changes in air pressure are measured on an instrument called a

barometer. Most barometers give a reading in millibars (mb for short).
Readings over 1010 mb indicate high pressure.

Isobars... On a weather map, lines called isobars join up areas where the pressure
is the same. The closer together the isobars are, the more windy it will
be.

Weighing the Air

We already know that there is a blanket of air around the Earth called
the atmosphere, and we have just learnt that this results in what we call
air pressure. But how can we actually prove that air has weight? Isn’t it
just an invisible mixture of gases that we need to breathe? Let me show
you.
Gravity...

The air in the atmosphere is kept close to the Earth by the pull of
gravity, the force that pulls everything – including you and I – down to
the ground. Without gravity, we would be weightless and would float
above the ground, as we see with astronauts in space. As well as giving
humans weight, gravity also does the same for air. We can illustrate this
with a simple experiment using two balloons.

We want to test whether the balloon is heavier or lighter (or the same
weight) after you blow air into it. To do this, tie a piece of string around
the middle of a stick of piece of cane so that it balances. Then tie an
empty balloon to each end of the cane. What happens? The two
balloons should balance evenly at each end.

Now remove one balloon and blow air into it. When you have done that,
tie it back onto the end of the cane. Is there any change? That’s right,
the end with the blown-up balloon on it should dip downwards. This is
because the air in the balloon is making it heavier.

Highs and Lows

We can do another experiment with balloons to look at air pressure.

Think about when you blow up a balloon. When the balloon is being
inflated, a lot of air is being forced inside it. This air is being compressed
as it is squashed together, and so it is at high pressure. If you let go of
the end of the balloon, the air inside will rush out to where the pressure
is lower.

If you are interested in air pressure and recording it for yourself, have a
look at some related projects in the What is Weather part of the
Activities. You'll be able to make a barometer of your own, and then use
it to predict the weather.