Assessment of the potential of the BMP388 microbarometric MEMS sensor as a low-cost sensor for dynamic atmospheric pressure monitoring and detection of rapid disturbances

Abstract

The article analyzes the operation of the BMP388 microbarometric MEMS sensor, which records pressure and temperature measurements and provides accurate altitude tracking. The study assesses the potential of this sensor as a low-cost alternative to traditional high-precision expensive devices used for dynamic geophysical monitoring and detection of low-frequency (infrasonic) atmospheric pressure fluctuations. The relevance of the work is determined by the need to create low-cost, scalable networks for registering fast atmospheric disturbances, including infrasound, which is generated by a wide range of natural and anthropogenic sources. To verify the capabilities of the sensor, a series of studies were conducted by changing its internal settings (oversampling and IIR filtering), which are key factors for achieving the optimal signal-to-noise ratio in the dynamic range. The studies encompassed both long-term monitoring of natural barographic changes over a 25-hour data recording, which captured the characteristic dynamics of pressure variations (a double anomaly correlating with the passage of a thunderstorm front) and an analysis of the response to pulse pressure impact and the determination of microbarometric resolution. The main methodological conclusion is based on a comparison of configurations with activated and deactivated internal IIR filtering. Complete deactivation of the IIR filter led to the dominance of high-frequency noise in the spectrum and a significant decrease in signal-to-noise ratio, even when the useful low-frequency signal remains registered. Thus, active IIR filtering is a critical prerequisite for achieving high data quality in dynamic mode. The results substantiate the suitability of the BMP388 as a low-cost sensor for operational monitoring of atmospheric disturbances and demonstrate its potential for integration into more complex geophysical measurement systems.