Seeed Barometer Selection Guide
We have released various types of barometer sensors in the recent years. You may find it difficult to make a choice between them. We feel your pain and let's take a close look at them and workout which one is best suited for you!
For all the barometer sensors in our bazaar, please click Bazaar Barometer tag to check.
What is Barometer
A barometer is a widely used weather instrument that measures atmospheric pressure (also known as air pressure or barometric pressure) -- the weight of the air in the atmosphere. It is one of the basic sensors included in weather stations. Barometers have evolved through the centuries and come in all shapes and sizes. It is also used in more industries than just the weather and climate sectors.
For instance, nowadays most mobile phones will have digital barometers builtin, of which are the main type of barometer in electronics field.
How Does a Digital Barometer Work
A digital barometer uses a detection cell (i.e. a chip) to measure the air temperature/ This chip will be vital and is sensitive to atmospheric pressure which influences its capacity to conduct/relay electricity.
The changing volume affects the strength of the current flowing through it, and the air pressure is calculated by measuring the strength of the current. The small size and versatility of the test battery allows it to be integrated into a variety of devices for a variety of purposes.
Below photo shows a typical barometer sensor with a builtin chip(DPS310):
Barometer Sensors at Seeed
Which One is Best For You
| Specifications | Grove - BMP280 | Grove - BME280 | Grove - DPS310 | Grove - HP206C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thumbnail Image |  |  |  |  |
| Pressure Range | 300 ~ 1100hPa | 300 ~ 1100hPa | 300 ~ 1200hPa | 700 ~ 1100hPa |
| Temperature Range | -40 ～ 85°C | -40 ～ 85°C | -40 ～ 85°C | -40 ～ 85°C |
| Pressure Precision | / | / | ± 0.002hPa (±0.02m) | / |
| Pressure Accuracy (Absolute) | ± 1hPa (or ±8m) | ± 1hPa (or ±8m) | ± 1hPa (or ±8m) | ± 1.5hPa (or ±8m) |
| Pressure Accuracy (Relative) | ± 0.12 hPa | ± 0.12 hPa | ± 0.06 hPa | ± 0.06 hPa |
| Pressure Resolution | 0.18Pa | 0.18Pa | 0.06Pa | 0.01hPa |
| Humidity | / | 0 ~ 100% | / | / |
| Communication Interface | I2C / SPI | I2C / SPI | I2C / SPI | I2C |
Quick Insight
From the above table, Pressure Range, Pressure Accuracy (Relative) and Pressure Resolution are the vital aspects of barometer sensors. For such reasons, you can choose the one that is most suited for your needs. Furthermore, also need to considered about the communication interface. In our case, I2C communication is available to all barometers and SPI is also available to most of them.
SPI communication can operate faster than I2C which may be an advantages in some situations.
To add more, Grove - Temp&Humi&Barometer Sensor (BME280) have added features for measuring ±1% accuracy for temperature and ±3% for humidity for certain needs.
Application Ideas
- Indoor Navigation (Floor detection e.g. in shopping malls and parking garages)
- Health and Sports (Accurate elevation gain and vertical speed)
- Outdoor Navigation (GPS start-up time and accuracy improvement, dead-reckoning e.g. in tunnels)
- Weather Station('Micro-weather' and local forecasts)
- Drones (Flight stability and height control)
Useful Projects
Seeed LoRa IoTea Solution: An automatic information collection system applied to tea plantation. It is part of intelligent agricultural information collection.
Intelligent alarm system made with BBG (IoT)
Monitoring System for Smart Crops Design and build a system to monitor the status of your crops using the Netduino 3 WiFi.
Resource
Tech Support & Product Discussion
Thank you for choosing our products! We are here to provide you with different support to ensure that your experience with our products is as smooth as possible. We offer several communication channels to cater to different preferences and needs.