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Barometric Pressure Transducers
How Barometric Pressure Changes Impact Pressure Instrumentation Accuracy
Core Sensors specializes in manufacturing high-quality barometric pressure transducers for atmospheric pressure monitoring.
What is Barometric Pressure?
Barometric pressure is a key factor in the performance and accuracy of pressure instruments, especially in applications where precise measurement is critical. Therefore, understanding how changes in the atmosphere affect sensor readings is essential for reliable data collection in sectors ranging from environmental monitoring to industrial automation.
Why Barometric Pressure Matters
Barometric pressure is the force exerted by the atmosphere at a given location. It fluctuates due to weather patterns and altitude, impacting measurements made by pressure transducers and transmitters, particularly those designed to sense absolute pressure. When barometric pressure changes—even by a small amount—it introduces a corresponding shift in the readings of non-vented absolute or sealed pressure transducers. For example, a 1PSI change in barometric pressure could falsely indicate a 2.3ft change in water level when using non-vented sensors for hydrostatic measurements. Additionally, vented sensors might not sense the barometric pressure change quickly given the vent tube length or if vented to an enclosure. Core offers calibrated pressure ranges in millibar (mbar), which is equivalent to hectopascals (hPa).
This sensitivity is more pronounced in instruments with lower pressure ranges; the wider the range, the less significant the effect. In demanding applications, even minor deviations can lead to erroneous conclusions or operational inefficiencies.
Correcting for Barometric Pressure Changes
To ensure pressure data remains accurate regardless of atmospheric changes, it is standard practice to monitor barometric pressure continuously and use this information to correct measurements. Here’s how it works:
- Monitoring: Dedicated barometric pressure sensors provide real-time atmospheric readings, which can be fed into the control system.
- Compensation Algorithms: The control system subtracts—or otherwise factors in—the ambient pressure from the sensor output, allowing for true measurement of the target process pressure.
- Routine Calibration: Instruments are periodically calibrated against known barometric pressure conditions to ensure ongoing accuracy.
Specifically, this approach is especially vital for environmental data loggers, meteorological stations, and any application using absolute pressure transducers or non-vented sensors.
Application Example
Core Sensors Barometric Pressure Solutions
Core Sensors now offers a range of absolute pressure transducers and transmitters, calibrated to measure barometric pressure (700–1,200 mbar absolute / hectopascals). Thanks to their analog voltage and current outputs, these sensors can easily integrate with most control systems. Their low-power electronics support battery or solar operation—ideal for remote monitoring stations. Additionally, these sensors can also be combined into Core’s hazardous location product lines, such as the CS81 intrinsically safe low pressure transducer and CS51 series non-incendive low pressure transducer, to meet stringent safety requirements.
Monitoring barometric pressure with dedicated instrumentation not only improves accuracy but also provides a vital correction factor for other pressure measurements, protecting against environmental effects and ensuring compliance in audited environments.
Key Takeaways
- Barometric pressure fluctuations can significantly impact the accuracy of absolute pressure transducers, especially at low pressure ranges or in non-vented applications.
- Continuous monitoring and compensation for changing barometric pressure is essential for reliable, accurate pressure readings in critical instrumentation.
- Core Sensors’ barometric pressure transducers provide the foundation for robust correction strategies, supporting both standard and hazardous location deployments.
- CS10 industrial pressure transducers can be configured for non-hazardous barometric pressure applications
- CS81 intrinsically safe pressure transducers and CS51 non-incendive pressure transducers are used for hazardous locations
To summarize, pairing your pressure instrumentation with barometric compensation, you safeguard data integrity, enhance operational reliability, and ensure your systems remain accurate no matter the weather or altitude.
About Core Sensors:
Core Sensors designs, manufactures and distributes high quality sensors for measuring pressure and temperature properties for industrial and hazardous applications worldwide. Core offers solutions for industrial, submersible, differential and hazardous applications in both standard and custom packaging. In-house design and manufacturing capabilities along with strategic manufacturing partners allows Core to create solutions to some of the most complex sensor requirements.
