John Exim BS ECE ES 66 (Report Drafts)

Piezometer
A piezometer is either a device used to measure static liquid pressure in a system
by measuring the height to which a column of the liquid rises against gravity, or a
device which measures the pressure (more precisely, the piezometric head)
of groundwater at a specific point. A piezometer is designed to measure static
pressures, and thus differs from a pitot tube by not being pointed into the fluid flow.
Application:
Piezometers measure pore-water pressure and ground water levels. They help
engineers to:

Understand initial site conditions.

Determine safe rates for placement of fill
Predict slope stability.
Design and build for lateral earth pressures and uplift pressures.
Evaluate the effectiveness of drainage schemes.
Check the performance of containment systems.

Types:
Standpipe Piezometers
The standpipe piezometer is the most basic type of piezometer. It consists of filter tip
joined to a riser pipe that extends to the surface. Water flows through the filter tip into
the riser pipe. Readings are obtained with a water level indicator.
Vibrating Wire Piezometers
The vibrating wire piezometer is the most commonly deployed type of piezometer.
Suitable for most applications, it can be installed in a borehole, embedded in fill, or
suspended in a standpipe. Readings are obtained with a portable readout or a data
logger.
Pneumatic Piezometers
The pneumatic piezometer operates by gas pressure. It can be installed in a borehole,
embedded in fill, or suspended in a large diameter standpipe. Readings are obtained with
a pneumatic indicator.
Titanium Pressure Transducer
The titanium pressure transducer is a 4-20mA device that is compatible with industrial
data loggers. It is generally used for drawdown tests.

Barometer
A barometer is a scientific instrument used in meteorology to
measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in
the weather. Numerous measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather
analysis to help find surface troughs, high pressure systems, and frontal boundaries.

History:
Although Evangelista Torricelli is universally credited with inventing the barometer in
1643, historical documentation also suggests Gasparo Berti, an Italian mathematician
and astronomer, unintentionally built a water barometer sometime between 1640 and
1643. French scientist and philosopher Ren Descartes described the design of an
experiment to determine atmospheric pressure as early as 1631, but there is no evidence
that he built a working barometer at that time.
On July 27, 1630, Giovanni Battista Baliani wrote a letter to Galileo Galilei explaining an
experiment he had made in which a siphon, led over a hill about twenty-one meters high,
failed to work. Galileo responded with an explanation of the phenomenon: he proposed
that it was the power of a vacuum that held the water up, and at a certain height the
amount of water simply became too much and the force could not hold any more, like a
cord that can support only so much weight. This was a restatement of the theory
of horror vacui ("nature abhors a vacuum"), which dates toAristotle, and which Galileo
restated as resistenza del vacuo.
Types:
Water-based barometers
Mercury barometers
Vacuum pump oil barometer
Aneroid barometers
Barographs
Application:
Using barometric pressure and the pressure tendency (the change of pressure over time)

has been used in weather forecasting since the late 19th century. When used in
combination with wind observations, reasonably accurate short-term forecasts can be
made. Simultaneous barometric readings from across a network of weather stations allow
maps of air pressure to be produced, which were the first form of the modern weather
map when created in the 19th century. Isobars, lines of equal pressure, when drawn on
such a map, gives a contour map showing areas of high and low pressure. Localized high
atmospheric pressure acts as a barrier to approaching weather systems, diverting their
course. Atmospheric lift caused by low-level wind convergence into the surface low
brings clouds and potentially precipitation.The larger the change in pressure, especially if
more than 3.5 hPa, the larger the change in weather can be expected. If the pressure
drop is rapid, a low pressure system is approaching, and there is a greater chance of
rain . Rapid pressure rises, such as in the wake of a cold front, are associated with
improving weather conditions, such as clearing skies.

How does a Barometer Work?

The classic mercury barometer is typically a glass tube about 3 feet high with one end
open and the other end sealed. The tube is filled with mercury. This glass tube sits upside
down in a container, called the reservoir, which also contains mercury. The mercury level
in the glass tube falls, creating a vacuum at the top. The first barometer of this type was
devised by Evangelista Torricelli in 1643.
The barometer works by balancing the weight of mercury in the glass tube against the
atmospheric pressure just like a set of scales. If the weight of mercury is less than the
atmospheric pressure, the mercury level in the glass tube rises. If the weight of mercury
is more than the atmospheric pressure, the mercury level falls.
Atmospheric pressure is basically the weight of air in the atmosphere above the
reservoir, so the level of mercury continues to change until the weight of mercury in the
glass tube is exactly equal to the weight of air above the reservoir.
In areas of low pressure, air is rising away from the surface of the earth more quickly
than it can be replaced by air flowing in from surrounding areas. This reduces the weight
of air above the reservoir so the mercury level drops to a lower level.
In contrast, in areas of high pressure, air is sinking toward the surface of the earth more
quickly than it can flow out to surrounding areas. There is more air above the reservoir,
so the weight of air is higher and the mercury rises to a higher level to balance things
out. Read more about high and low pressure air masses.

Pressure Sensor
A pressure sensor measures pressure, typically of gases or liquids. Pressure is an
expression of the force required to stop a fluid from expanding, and is usually stated
in terms of force per unit area. A pressure sensor usually acts as a transducer; it
generates a signal as a function of the pressure imposed. For the purposes of this
article, such a signal is electrical.
Pressure sensors are used for control and monitoring in thousands of everyday
applications. Pressure sensors can also be used to indirectly measure other
variables such as fluid/gas flow, speed, water level, and altitude. Pressure sensors
can alternatively be called pressure transducers, pressure transmitters, pressure
senders, pressure indicators and piezometers, manometers, among other names.
Pressure sensors can vary drastically in technology, design, performance,
application suitability and cost. A conservative estimate would be that there may be
over 50 technologies and at least 300 companies making pressure sensors
worldwide.

Types:
Absolute pressure sensor
This sensor measures the pressure relative to perfect vacuum.
Gauge pressure sensor
This sensor measures the pressure relative to atmospheric pressure. A tire pressure
gauge is an example of gauge pressure measurement; when it indicates zero, then
the pressure it is measuring is the same as the ambient pressure.
Vacuum pressure sensor

This term can cause confusion. It may be used to describe a sensor that measures
pressures below atmospheric pressure, showing the difference between that low
pressure and atmospheric pressure (i.e. negative gauge pressure), but it may also
be used to describe a sensor that measures low pressure relative to perfect vacuum
(i.e. absolute pressure).
Differential pressure sensor
This sensor measures the difference between two pressures, one connected to each
side of the sensor. Differential pressure sensors are used to measure many
properties, such as pressure drops across oil filters or air filters, fluid levels (by
comparing the pressure above and below the liquid) or flow rates (by measuring the
change in pressure across a restriction). Technically speaking, most pressure
sensors are really differential pressure sensors; for example a gauge pressure
sensor is merely a differential pressure sensor in which one side is open to the
ambient atmosphere.
Sealed pressure sensor
This sensor is similar to a gauge pressure sensor except that it measures pressure
relative to some fixed pressure rather than the ambient atmospheric pressure
(which varies according to the location and the weather).

Application:

Pressure sensing
Altitude sensing
Flow sensing
Level / depth sensing
Leak testing
Ratiometric Correction of Transducer Output