Static pressure

In fluid mechanics the term static pressure has several uses: In the design and operation of aircraft, static pressure is the air pressure in the aircraft's static pressure system. In fluid dynamics, many authors use the term static pressure in preference to just pressure to avoid ambiguity. Often however, the word ‘static’ may be dropped and in that usage pressure is the same as static pressure at a nominated point in a fluid. The term static pressure is also used by some authors in fluid statics. An aircraft's static pressure system is the key input to its altimeter and, along with the pitot pressure system, also drives the airspeed indicator. The static pressure system is open to the aircraft's exterior through a small opening called the static port, which allows sensing the ambient atmospheric pressure at the altitude at which the aircraft is flying. In flight, the air pressure varies slightly at different positions around the aircraft's exterior, so designers must select the static ports' locations carefully. Wherever they are located, the air pressure that the ports observe will generally be affected by the aircraft's instantaneous angle of attack. The difference between that observed pressure and the actual atmospheric pressure (at altitude) causes a small position error in the instruments' indicated altitude and airspeed. A designer's objective in locating the static port is to minimize the resulting position error across the aircraft's operating range of weight and airspeed. Many authors describe the atmospheric pressure at the altitude at which the aircraft is flying as the freestream static pressure. At least one author takes a different approach in order to avoid a need for the expression freestream static pressure. Gracey has written "The static pressure is the atmospheric pressure at the flight level of the aircraft". Gracey then refers to the air pressure at any point close to the aircraft as the local static pressure. The concept of pressure is central to the study of fluids.