Article: Altimeters for polar bears.(cold weather flying)

If polar bears could fly, they would know about cold weather altimeter settings. That's because the correction factors are required at most of the locations where polar bears frequent. Before you warm weather pilots tune out, you too have probably flown to at least one location requiring a cold weather altimeter correction. In fact, any time the ground temperature beneath an aircraft drops below 0 degrees Celsius, a correction should be made to altitudes in the departure/arrival spectrum.

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To understand the error, it helps to compare the atmosphere to the ocean surface. Many different things cause "waves" in the atmosphere, such as ...

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