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Atmospheric pressure: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As barometric pressure • air pressure

Photos and Videos

Graph showing different atmospheric layers, indicating altitude and pressure variations, with examples including Mount Everest, clouds, commercial airliners, and weather balloons.
World map displaying average sea-level atmospheric pressures in January, using color shading to indicate pressure ranges in millibars. Dark blue areas represent pressures over 1,024 millibars, while lighter blue and tan shades indicate decreasing pressures down to under 1,000 millibars. High-pressure cells (marked H) are located over northern Asia, the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and southern oceans, while low-pressure cells (marked L) appear over Iceland, the Aleutian Islands, and regions of
World map showing average sea-level atmospheric pressures in July, with color shading to indicate pressure ranges in millibars and symbols marking high-pressure (H) and low-pressure (L) cells. High-pressure areas, shown mostly in blue, dominate the subtropical oceans and parts of the North Pacific and North Atlantic, while low-pressure cells, in tan, are concentrated over northern continents and the Indian Ocean region.
Guericke, Otto von; air pressure experiment
World map showing mean sea-level pressure in millibars for January, with contour lines labeled with pressure values and color shading for land and sea. Red arrows indicate the general direction and speed of global winds, while red and orange dashed lines trace primary and secondary storm tracks, including regions of tropical cyclones. Major pressure systems like the Siberian High, Aleutian Low, Icelandic Low, and Azores-Bermuda High are labeled.
Map of the world showing average sea-level pressure in millibars for July, with labeled high and low pressure systems such as the Asian monsoon low, Hawaiian high, Azores-Bermuda high, and Icelandic low. Red dashed and dotted lines indicate primary and secondary storm tracks, while arrows show the direction and speed of prevailing global winds. Typhoon and hurricane regions are marked in the western Pacific and Atlantic, respectively.
Learn about atmospheric pressure and its units and methods of measurement
Why suction cups won't work in space
How the barometer was invented
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George Dollond
British optician

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