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Preparation of QNH Values

for setting pressure
(Type ALTIMETERS)
By
Masood Akhtar Khan, Meteorologist
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Altitude:- The vertical distance of a level, a point or an object

considered from m.s.l.

Elevation:- The vertical distance of a level or a point on or

affixed to the surface of earth measured from m.s.l.

Height:- The vertical distance of a level a point or an object

considered as a point measured from a specified datum.

QFE Barometric pressure at the aerodrome elevation (or under

certain circumstances, the runway threshold)

Note:-
i. The observed pressure at the level of barometer cistern is
reduced to recognized level of aerodrome.
ii. With QFE setting altimeter reads zero on landing.
iii. While in air, the QFE setting gives approximate height of the
aircraft above the aerodrome.

QFF Pressure reduced to m.s.l. in accordance with Met. practices.

i. QFE depends on temps.

QNH QFE reduced to m.s.l. in accordance with the specified

condition of ICAO standard atmosphere.
i. QNH depends only on pressure at aerodrome level
ii. With QNH setting, the altimeter reads the aerodrome elevation
(height above m.s.l.) on landing plus the height of altimeter
above ground (in Aircraft).
iii. While in air, the QNH setting gives approx altitude of
aircraft.

QNE Pressure altitude of aerodrome. (pressure altitude is the

altitude which corresponds to any given pressure)

i. altimeter sub scale is set to standard value of 1013.2 hPa

(29.92 )
ii. The height recorded by altimeter will be equivalent to the
difference between prevailing pressure at the aerodrome and
1013.2 hPa.
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Units of atmospheric Pressure:-

105 pascal (= 1 bar) = 105 NM-2

one hectopascal (= 1 mb) = 100 pascal
Under standard condition
760 mm of Hg = 1013.35 hPa
1 hPa = 0.750062 mm of Hg
1 (mm Hg) = 1.333224 hPa

Since1 inch = 25.4 mm.

1 hPa = 0.0295300 inch
1 (in Hg) = 33.8639 hPa
1 (mm Hg) = 0.03937008 (in Hg)

ICAO Standard Atmosphere

Assumed Air is dry m.s.l. = 1013.25 hPa and temperature = 15oC.

Approx altitude Pressure Temperature Temp lapse rate

o
Km hPa C (oC/Km)
0 1013.25 15 6.5
11 226.32 -56.5 6.5
20 54.75 -56.5 0.0
32 8.68 -44.5 -1.0

Pressure Altimeter:-

It is just an aneroid barometer. However its scale is

graduated to read height units instead of pressure unit above a
specified datum e.g. ground level or m.s.l. The scale is linear
one.

Pressure sensitive altimeters:-

They are aneroid barometers with an altitude scale which has

the same reaction to pressure scale as in the ICAO standard
atmosphere.
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D-Factor:-

In the real atmosphere the rate of change of pressure with

altitude in a given layer varies with the air density of the
layer. Density in turn, is dependent on the air temp and pressure,
both of which are highly available elements i.e. m.s.l. pressure
(1013.25 hPa) and temp of atmosphere between the surface and
altitude differs from ICAO standard atmosphere.

The departure of altitude (ZP) determined from ICAO standard

atmosphere, from the true altitude (Z) is known as D-factor.
D-Factor = True altitude - pressure altitude
D = Z - Zp

Pressure Sub Scale:-

Altimeter used in air crafts are fitted with a sub-scale (in

mbs or inches). This sub scale can be set to eliminate the effect
of the difference between the actual pressure observed at
reference level and the pressure for the same level in ICAO
standard atmosphere. Which is called altimeter setting there may
be QFE QFF QNE QNH 04 methods, however, there are two methods
commonly used for setting the sub scale of an altimeter

1) QFE = altimeter setting or zero setting

2) QNH = altimeter setting

There are many advantages in using QNH setting which gives

approximately the height above some recognized level (m.s.l.).

The pressure must, however, be reduced to m.s.l. in

accordance with the ICAO standard atmosphere.

Methods determining the QNH value:-

a) Calculate the aerodrome pressure (QFE)

b) Use ICAO standard atmosphere to determine the latitude (Zp)
corresponding to QFE.
c) Subtract the elevation of aerodrome (H) from Z p i.e. obtain (Zp
- H).
d) Use ICAO standard atmosphere to determine the pressure (QNH)
corresponding to altitude (Zp - H)
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Case (a)
Zp < H

In this case (Zp - H) is +ve, Hence QNH is < 1013.25 mbs.

Case (b)
o < Zp < H

Now (Zp-H) is –ve, Hence QNH is > 1013.25

Case (c)
Zp < o

In this case the altitude of QFE in the ICAO standard

atmosphere is -ve and (Zp-H) is again -ve hence QNH > 1013.25 mb.
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Example:-

Table in relation with pressure altitude and mb pressure.

Zp Meters P(mb)
-1000 1139.29
-500 1074.77
0 1013.25
500 954.608
1000 898.745
5000 540.199
20,000 54.7487
30,000 11.7186

Sample QNH Table

Elevation of aerodrome: 914.4 meters

QFE 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Example:-
Aerodrome elevation: 914.4 meter = H
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QFE = 850 mb
Zp corresponding to QFE = 1457 m
Zp - H = 1457-914.4 = 542.6 m
Pressure corresponds to (Zp-H) = 950.23
QNH = 950

ERRORS AND CORRECTIONS IN ALTIMETER

The two meteorological parameter that affect the reporting of

heights by altimeters are pressure and temperature. Variations of
these two meteorological elements in the atmosphere lead to
recording of wrong heights by altimeter indicators and suitable
corrections are needed as follows:-

(a) Zero Correction for Pressure Variations:-

Altimeters generally used are fitted with a subscale which

reads the atmospheric pressure at the instrument legal if the
indicated heiht is shown on the instrument is zero. This subscale
is hectopascal but also sometimes be in inches. The subscale is
adjustable manually and can be so adjusted with reference to the
surface pressure so that the indicated height (above the ground or
sea level) is correct at the time of take off. As long as surface
pressure to which the instrument was set remains unchanged beneath
the aircraft, the instrument will continue to indicate true
altitudes, provided there are no measurable changes in the
temperature field which will require corrections accordingly.
Altimeter settings are therefore very useful at the time of
landing as the aircraft can achieve a soft and comfortable
landing.

In case the altimeter indicates a wrong height there are

chances that the aircraft may strike against the runway (earlier
than planned) and may suffer damages or may not touch the runway
even though the altimeter indicates zero. These are dangerous
situations and are to be avoided. It is, therefore a practice
that the aircraft always gets the latest pressure values from the
control tower and adjusts the altimeter before landing. during
flight the aircraft covers a vast area and the underneath pressure
goes on changing with time and place. Accordingly the altimeter
will indicate greater heights if barometric pressure falls during
the flight and will under read if it has risen. The extent of
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error is roughly 27 feet or 300 feet for a hectopascal. At
constant or mean temperature T, the difference between the height
H1 and H2 in terms of corresponding pressures P1 and P2 is given by
the following formula:

H2 - H1 = 96 T/P
(for 1 mb change)
Where P is pressure in hPa

From this formula it follows that rate of fall per hPa

increases will fall in pressure (universally proportional) and
also with a rise of temperature (directly proportional).

We may illustrate this by an example.

FIG

Suppose an aircraft is flying at a pressure level of 850 hPa

or about 5000 feet. At the time of takes off the surface or m.s.l.
pressure was 1015 hPa and the indicated height (at 850 hPa) 4950
feet. During the course of flight the surface pressure fall to
the value of 995 hPa and thus by 20 hPa from Karachi to Lahore.
These 20 hPa correspond approximately to 20 x 30 or 600 feet (850
hPa) above the surface and not 4950 feet as at the time of take
off. The instrument would therefore over read to the extent of 600
feet even when it has touched the surface. Similarly a flight
taking off from Lahore to Karachi under indential conditions would
still be 600 feet above the ground surface when its altimeter
indicates zero height.

As general rule it should be remembered that if the flight is

towards an area of higher pressure he altimeter under reads.
Similarly if its is from an area of higher pressure towards an
area of lower pressure the altimeter over reads. The over reading
is dangerous specially when the aircraft is flying over higher
grounds or in the valley as it may strike and crash against peaks.

As we all know the wind is an outcome of pressure

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distribution. Therefore the greater the wind speed that is
encountered from one station to another station, the greater would
be the corresponding falloff pressure. In other words length of
the route (as long as the pressure field does not get reversed).

In the above example the flight from Lahore to Karachi will

experience easterly winds i.e. on the left side or the port of the
aircraft while the flight going out of Karachi will also have
easterly winds but these will strike the aircraft on the right
hand side or the starboard of the aircraft. As such in the
northern port will tend to over read while with winds from the
starboard the altimeter will tend to under read.

Corrections for temperature variation:-

As long as the temperatures variations are not wide the

extent or correction is negligible and may be ignored for all
practical purposes as is apparent from the two equations
considered earlier. Therefore if a flight proceeds rom a colder
region to a warmer, surface pressure remaining unchanged or
uniform the altimeter will under read.

Fig

Generally if the temperature exceeds the standard temperature by

10°C, the indicated height is to be increased roughly by 4%. This
correction is negligible in lower latitude but increase
considerably for higher heights. For example, for a 10°C rise
the correction for 1500 ft. would be only 60 feet for l15000 feet
it would be 600 feet.

Instrumental errors:-

Apart from errors due to meteorological parameters as

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described earlier, there are some other sources of error. These
include errors due to faulty calibrations (scale error) or uneven
movement of the needle which causes irregular and jumpy movements
on the dial. This may be due to friction (friction error) and may
be overcome by gentle tapping of the instrument panel. Sometimes
when the aircraft is making sudden movement leading to quick
changes in altitudes than the altimeter needle lags due to
imperfect elasticity of the aneroid capsule. This is known as
Hysteresis error and is often encountered in military aircraft
doing rapid climb or descent. Other less important include
Temperature error which may result due to achieving of a
temperature different to the prevailing temperature by the
instrument and position error because the instrument is connected
to a state vent fitted to the surface of the aircraft where the
pressure may differ from the true states pressure of the
atmosphere.
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Altimeter correction:

Altimeter correction is defined as the value which must be

added to the indicated height to obtain the true height above sea
level. When the sub scale is set to the standard pressure value of
1013.2 mbs the indicated height (h') may be different from that
observed or the actual height (h). The altimeter correction will
then be h - h' feet. Altimeter correction is sometimes denoted by
D.

NACA Standard Atmosphere Altitude Pressure Table

Table 66 gives the NACA standard atmosphere altitude in feet

corresponding to the pressure for each tenth of an inch of
mercury, and provides an alternate method for computing the
altimeter setting defined in Table 65.

To compute the altimeter setting:

1. Determine the station elevation Hb in feet and the

corresponding station pressure P in inches of mercury.
2. Subtract 0.01 in. Hg. from the station pressure obtaining (p-
0.01"). The purpose of this is to correct for the fact that an
aircraft altimeter is usually about 10 feet above the landing
gear.
3. From Table 66, determine the altitude corresponding to (p-
0.01"), found in step 2. Interpolate if necessary.
4. Subtract the station elevation Hb from the latitude found in
step3.
5. Re-enter Table 66 with the difference found in step 4 as the
tabular value. The corresponding pressure, to the nearest 0.01
inch of mercury, is the altimeter setting.
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Inches .00 .10 .20 .30 .40 .50 .60 .70 .80 .90
of
mercury feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet
0 80522
78056
1 75850 73854 72032 70357 68805 67361 66009 64740 63543 62411
2 61337 60315 59341 58411 57519 56665 55844 55053 54292 53557
3 52847 52161 51496 50852 50228 49620 49030 48456 47898 47354
4 46824 46307 45803 45310 44829 44358 43898 43448 43007 42575
5 42151 41737 41330 40931 40540 40156 39779 39408 39044 38686
6 38334 37989 37648 37313 36983 36659 36339 36024 35714 35408
7 35106 34809 34514 34222 33934 33649 33367 33088 32812 32539
8 32269 32001 31736 31474 31214 30957 30702 30449 30199 29951
9 29706 29462 29221 28982 28745 28510 28276 28046 27816 27589
10 27363 27140 26917 26697 26479 26262 26048 25834 25622 25412
11 25204 24996 24791 24587 24384 24183 23983 23785 23588 23392
12 23198 23005 22813 22622 22433 22245 22058 21872 21688 21505
13 21323 21142 20962 20783 20605 20429 20253 20079 19905 19733
14 19561 19391 19221 19052 18885 18718 18553 18388 18224 18061
15 17899 17737 17577 17417 17259 17101 16944 16787 16632 16477
16 16324 16171 16018 15867 15716 15566 15416 15268 15120 14973
17 14826 14681 14536 14391 14247 14104 13962 13820 13679 13539
18 13399 13260 13121 12983 12846 12709 12573 12437 12302 12168
19 12034 11901 11768 11636 11505 11374 11243 11113 10984 10855
20 10726 10599 10471 10344 10218 10092 9967 9842 9718 9594
21 9471 9348 9225 9013 8982 8861 8740 8620 8500 8381
22 8262 8144 9225 9103 8982 8861 8740 8620 8500 8381
23 7098 6984 6870 6756 6643 6531 6418 6307 6195 6084
24 5974 5863 5753 5644 5534 5425 5317 5209 5101 4994
25 4886 4780 4673 4567 4462 4356 4251 4146 4042 3938
26 3834 3731 3628 3525 3422 3320 3218 3117 3016 2915
27 2814 2714 2614 2514 2415 2315 2217 2118 2020 1922
28 1824 1727 1630 1533 1436 1340 1244 1148 1053 957
29 683 768 673 579 485 392 298 205 112 20
30 -73 -165 -257 -348 -440 -531 -622 -712 -803 -893
31 -983