Density Altitude

Density Altitude

Below is a density altitude spreadsheet I made (in MS Excel format) to save me the trouble of doing the math. It requires the user to enter the field elevation, altimeter setting, temperature and dew point. The formulas it contains are very simple but good enough to give a reasonable approximation (within in say 100 feet) of the actual density altitude. I later found the actual formulas on Richard Shelquist's web site. I copied that page on to my site because one never knows how long a page will stay up. Click HERE to bring my copy up. Click HERE to go to the Richard's web site. Richard actually goes into the complex math involved to get density altitude. It's interesting and probably more than most people want to know. At some future date I will incorporate the more accurate math into the spreadsheet. The part on the bottom about incorporating the humidity into the density altitude is not accurate (it over-compensates). So, I would ignore that part until I update the spreadsheet.

I've also added the feature of only allowing the user to enter data in the required fields. That was to keep me from accidentally erasing the formulas in the other fields. If you want to change that, you need only "unprotect" the worksheet. No password is required to do that. This spreadsheet was fairly easy to set up. On the other hand, it wouldn't offend me if you chose to make a donation.

Disclaimer: The purpose of this spreadsheet is to automate the calculations for density altitude and not to alleviate the pilot's responsibility to use good judgment at all times. I have done everything reasonable to make sure this works properly and I've used it many times myself without incident. If you are downloading this, you accept that you are responsible for how you use it.

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