sea level pressure

From Glossary of Meteorology
The atmospheric pressure at mean sea level, either directly measured or, most commonly, empirically determined from the observed station pressure.

In regions where the earth's surface is above sea level, it is standard observational practice to reduce the observed surface pressure to the value that would exist at a point at sea level directly below if air of a temperature corresponding to that actually present at the surface were present all the way down to sea level. In actual practice, the mean temperature for the preceding 12 hours is employed, rather than the current temperature. This "reduction of pressure to sea level" is responsible for many anomalies in the pressure field in mountainous areas on the surface synoptic chart.

Copyright 2024 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this work, please contact permissions@ametsoc.org. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S.Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, require written permission or a license from AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement.