Read first before you start considering it a duplicate, please, as the similar questions didn't answer my question either.
The usual standard atmospheres have two altitudes: the geopotential and the geometric one and I'm still confused on which is which and which one an aircraft's altimeter is showing.
- In the U.S. 1976 Standard Atmosphere (i.e. not the ISA/ICAO but perhaps in theirs too) the geometric altitude is the true altitude above sea level while the geopotential altitude is the one that considers 1g to be at any altitude (i.e. as if gravity didn't decrease with altitude, remaining 1g all the way up). This makes sense as the pressure value is lower for the geopotential value than for the geometric value, implying that gravity pushes down more strongly because it's considered 1g, not a lower gravity, in the geopotential value.
- The WP page however, considers the geopotential altitude to be the gravity-adjusted one. Perhaps the ISA defines the altitudes differently, and "geopotential altitude" in the ISA means what "geometric altitude" means to the U.S. SA? This link seems to support that because it says the pressure altitude is the geopotential one, and then goes on to say 262 hPa is the pressure at 33,000 ft, which in the U.S. SA is the geometric altitude value, not the geopotential one (which would be 261 hPa).
- The U.S. Standard Atmosphere abbreviates the geometric altitude as "Z" and the geopotential altitude as "H" but I've seen the geopotential altitude be called "Z" too (or was it lowercase "z"?). The WP page calls the geopotential altitude "Z" and the link from above calls it "H" and the geometric altitude "h".
Now, to finally get rid of all confusion, I'd like to ask: when a plane's altimeter shows that it cruises at 33,000 ft (FL330), does that mean it is at 261 hPa or at 262 hPa?
