Problem 56338. Pressure for a given Above Sea Level Altitude

For altitudes up to the stratosphere (around 11 km above mean sea level), the air pressure can be estimated from:
with
where the observed surface values are:
  • static pressure at base of atmosphere (sea level if h0 = 0) in mb
  • temperatuer at base of atmosphere in K
  • altitude above the base of atmosphere in m
  • base of atmosphere (sea level if h0=0) in m
and the constants are:
  • molar mass of Earth’s air = 0.0289644 [kg/mol]
  • standard temperature lapse rate [K/m] = -0.0065 [K/m]
  • Rydberg constant = 8.31432 N m/mol K
  • 9.80665 m/s^2 is the acceleration due to gravity at the surface of Earth
and for altitudes above the tropopause (the base of the stratosphere) up to about 20,000 m):
with
where on average:
  • = 11 km
  • = 226.32 mb
  • K
Write a function that returns the pressure in millibars as a function of altitude in meters. The surface observation variables should be scalars. Assume the base altitude and surface observations are made at sea level (h0=0). The input altitude above sea level can be a vector.
Solve

Solution Stats

14.24% Correct | 85.76% Incorrect
Last Solution submitted on Aug 08, 2024

Problem Comments

Solution Comments

Show comments

Problem Recent Solvers121

Suggested Problems

More from this Author10

Problem Tags

weather

Community Treasure Hunt

Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!

Start Hunting!