Pressure gradient the air to make it move as wind. Note that the pressure gradient force points from high towards low pressure zones, it is thus oriented in the opposite direction from the pressure gradient itself. Sound waves and shock waves are events that can induce very large pressure gradients, but these are often transitory disturbances. In acoustics the pressure gradient is proportional to the sound particle acceleration according to Euler's equation. Pressure gradient In atmospheric science (meteorology, climatology and related fields), the pressure gradient (typically of air, more generally of any fluid) is a physical quantity that describes in which direction
Atmospheric pressure lower than air pressure at sea level. Pressure varies smoothly from the Earth's surface to the top of the mesosphere. Although the pressure changes with the weather, NASA has averaged the conditions for all parts of the earth year-round. As altitude increases, atmospheric pressure decreases. One can calculate the atmospheric pressure at a given altitude. Temperature and humidity also affect the atmospheric pressure, and it is necessary to know these to compute an accurate figure. The graph at right was developed for a temperature of 15 °C and a relative humidity of 0%. At low altitudes above sea level, the