Which sensor provides static and dynamic air pressure data used to determine airspeed and altitude?

Which sensor provides static and dynamic air pressure data used to determine airspeed and altitude?

• A. Magnetometer
• B. GPS
• C. IMU
• D. Barometer

Answer: (D)

Pressure data used to estimate altitude comes from a barometer, which senses ambient static pressure in the atmosphere. Altitude is inferred because atmospheric pressure decreases with height. For airspeed, the system uses dynamic pressure created by the aircraft’s motion, which is read through a pitot-static setup in practice; the barometer provides the static pressure reference, while the dynamic part comes from another path in the air data system. Among the options, only the barometer directly measures pressure; magnetometer, GPS, and IMU track magnetic fields, position/velocity, and motion, respectively, but do not measure air pressure. That makes the barometer the most relevant choice for providing pressure data used in these calculations.

Pressure data used to estimate altitude comes from a barometer, which senses ambient static pressure in the atmosphere. Altitude is inferred because atmospheric pressure decreases with height. For airspeed, the system uses dynamic pressure created by the aircraft’s motion, which is read through a pitot-static setup in practice; the barometer provides the static pressure reference, while the dynamic part comes from another path in the air data system. Among the options, only the barometer directly measures pressure; magnetometer, GPS, and IMU track magnetic fields, position/velocity, and motion, respectively, but do not measure air pressure. That makes the barometer the most relevant choice for providing pressure data used in these calculations.