2
$\begingroup$

I am making my own attitude indicator / AHRS, like a Garmin G5. I am using two pressure sensors to measure altitude & airspeed via static /pitot lines.

Now I know the formula for calculating airspeed is: SQRT( (2 * ( Pitot - Static)) / density ) and many sources I find use 1.2 for the density factor, which should actually be 1.225 from my research.

But that density value is for air at sea level. I'm thinking I should adjust the density factor based on altitude. For instance, at 10k feet, the density drops to about 0.91 kg / m3. Not a big difference but enough to possibly be a factor.

Anyone have experience doing what I am making?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
2
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ If IAS is what you're looking for, you should simply not consider the reduction in air density due to altitude. As altitude increases and density decreases, the ASI will show a lower dynamic pressure (IAS) for the same true-airspeed, but the wings and rest of the aircraft will also experience the same reduced dynamic pressure. So use the sea level density irrespective of the altitude - if IAS (dynamic pressure) is what you want your ASI to read. But if you want TAS, you must account for density: $TAS = IAS / √σ$ (where $σ$ is relative density). $\endgroup$
    – Aditya Sharma
    Jan 7 at 23:07
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ You need to look up and understand the differences between: True air speed (TAS), Indicated air speed (IAS), Equivalent air speed (EAS), and Calibrated air speed (CAS). $\endgroup$
    – Rob McDonald
    Jan 8 at 6:01

0

Reset to default

You must log in to answer this question.